Summary of Technical Assistance by United States Antitrust Authorities

U.S. technical assistance is provided on a bilateral, multilateral, or regional basis. Bilateral assistance usually features long-term (periods of months or years) or short-term (weeks) in-country visits by senior legal and economic staff from the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; the visits focus on specific concerns of the recipient agency through one-on-one discussions, workshops, and lectures. In-country visits often lead to ongoing informal follow-up consultations, often by telephone, fax, or e-mail. The United States also sponsors foreign agency staff in study visits (internships) to U.S. antitrust authorities. Technical assistance on a multilateral or regional basis is usually carried out through agency staff participation in conferences and symposiums, including many sponsored annually by organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, and the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Programs are tailored to meet the needs of assistance recipients. A significant focus involves conducting staff training on specific methods of competition analysis, investigative techniques, and prosecutorial or enforcement skills and procedures. Other efforts involve educating policymakers, the judiciary, the business community, and the general public about the role of competition policy in promoting the operation of markets and protecting consumers against anticompetitive interests; advising on writing or implementing competition laws and related regulations or policies; helping the recipient antitrust authority to define its role in initiating investigations; or providing consultative assistance on regulations and amendments to existing competition law that will enhance its enforcement efforts. Sometimes U.S. assistance occurs in the context of recipient nations' efforts to deregulate or restructure regulated industries, and accordingly antitrust agency staff with expertise in competition issues in the regulated industry will be assigned to provide assistance. This technical assistance is distinct from any the foreign government may receive from another U.S. agency that has regulatory expertise, since the relevant regulatory authority in the foreign government, as in the U.S., likely operates in a separate ministry from the competition authority, and is primarily concerned with aspects other than competition issues.

Prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Executive Office (January 2000)

1. Information contained herein reflects best information available on technical assistance that the Antitrust Division has furnished to foreign jurisdictions from fiscal year ("FY") 1990 - FY 1998. (Each FY runs from October 1 through September 30).

2. The total number of missions is comprised of long- and short-term missions (defined as lasting from 1-4 weeks). Approximately 86% of all missions from FY 1990 through FY 1998 were short-term. The remaining 14% were long-term missions (defined as lasting from 2-9 months).

3. An "advisor" is defined as a Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, employee or consultant who participated in one or more long-or short-term missions. Normally FTC advisors are accompanied by a complementary staff member of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission who is separately funded, usually by USAID.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Technical Assistance Program(1)
Fiscal Year	Total Expenditures	Total Number of Missions(2)	Total Number of International Conferences	Total Number of Advisors(3)	Foreign Nationals Trained in the United States	International Technical Assistance Beneficiaries
1998	$326,456	18	0	19	15	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, New Independent States
1997	$685,637	25	0	27	19	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, New Independent States
1996	$696,854	35	1	36	41	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, New Independent States
1995	$815,152	20	2	27	11	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, New Independent States
1994	$936,029	32	2	39	16	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, New Independent States
1993	$55,808	19	0	16	26	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean
1992	N/A	16	1	22	9	Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean
1991	N/A	8	0	8	1	Central and Eastern Europe
1990	N/A	3	0	3	N/A	Central and Eastern Europe

Prepared by U.S. Federal Trade Commission (Oct. 1999)

1. Information obtained herein reflects best information available on technical assistance that the Federal Trade Commission has furnished to foreign jurisdictions from fiscal year ("FY") 1990 - FY 1998. (Each FY runs from October 1 through September 30).

2. The total number of missions is comprised of long- and short-term missions. Long-term missions are defined as 2-9 months, and short-term missions are defined as 1- 4 weeks.

3. An "advisor" is defined as a FTC employee or consultant who participated in one or more long-or short-term missions. Normally FTC advisors are accompanied by a complementary staff member of the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, who is separately funded, usually by USAID.