UNCTAD and the national competition authority of Costa Rica (COPROCOM) launched new guidelines on merger analysis in accordance to the new competition law adopted in 2012. The event had more than 100 representatives from the private sector, sectoral regulators and the like.
During the opening Ceremony, the Ambassador of Switzerland in Costa Rica, Mrs. Yasmine Chatila addressed the audience by recognising the work of the COMPAL Programme in Costa Rica over the last 10 years. She also informed the audience about the recently signed Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States (Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Kingdom of Norway and the Swiss Confederation) and Central American States (represented by Costa Rica and Panama). Chapter 8 of the FTA deals with Competition issues and the need to fight against anticompetitive practices that will undermine the objectives of the FTA signed.
Mr. David Solano, President of COPROCOM, praised UNCTAD work on competition for the benefit of Costa Rica's Competition Law System. He praised the importance of the Peer Review practiced in 2008 by UNCTAD and the recommendations that were finally adopted with the amendment of the law in 2012. However, there are still additional peer review recommendations that need to be implemented such as the institutional reform of COPROCOM to be institution that is more autonomous.
Isaac Castro Esquivel, newly appointed Vice-minister attended the event. It followed the presentation of the guidelines by the two COMPAL consultants, Mrs. Pamela Sittenfeld (Costa Rica) and Mr. Diego Petrecolla (Argentina). The presentation was very detailed in terms of describing with precision all the steps that COPROCOM will carry out when analysing mergers in Costa Rica. Questions from the audience followed which consisted in problems of competence between telecom regulators and COPROCOM as well as whether the non-binding nature of the opinions of COPROCOM can actually be a problem in dealing with merger operations within regulatory sectors.
UNCTAD work in Costa Rica is under the COMPAL Programme. Costa Rica is a founder of COMPAL since 2003. During COMPAL two consultants Mr. Edgar Odio (Costa Rica) and Gesner Oliveira (Brazil) made me in 2005, a diagnosis of the previous law. During the next 7 years till 2012, COMPAL I and II continued to work in order to lobby for the amendment of the law which took place in 2012. COMPAL II carried out a preparation of the regulations of the Law during 2013 and then in 2014, merger guideline was prepared by two consultants with the substantive backstopping of UNCTAD and the Advisory Group of Experts of COMPAL II.
