Implemented jointly by ICTSD and the World Economic Forum, the E15Initiative convenes world-class experts and institutions to generate strategic analysis and recommendations for government, business and civil society geared towards strengthening the global trade and investment system for sustainable development. The E15 Expert Group on Competition Policy is co-convened with Bruegel . Increasing global interdependence and economic linkages clearly make a case for not only challenging the philosophy underpinning the case of exemption of export cartels from national competition legislations, but also changing this philosophy. This think–piece, with the help of two illustrative case studies, shows the impact of cartelisation in primary commodity markets. The case of natural rubber cartelisation relates to the effects of cartels in a primary raw-material market. The second relates to cartelisation in bananas along the vertical chain and downward monopolistic pressure from the retail level. The paper briefly analyses the economic consequences of export cartels while highlighting the need for international rules. It describes the political economy of the genesis of export cartels and also deals with the different types of exemptions being granted to the export cartels under domestic competition laws. Following an examination of the remedies for export cartels within the multilateral trade...
Written by Pradeep S. Mehta, Udai S. Mehta