Downloading Competition Law from a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA): A New Strategy to Introduce Competition Law in Bolivia and Ecuador

Abstract

Ecuador and Bolivia have proved resilient to the establishment and the adoption of Competition Laws. Despite several drafts have been discussed in the last few years, to date no competition rules have been enacted.

Notwithstanding, both are members of the Andean Community which have recently adopted new rules aimed at fighting anticompetitive practices at supranational level (2005). The competition rules of the Andean Community foresee the possibility that Ecuador and Bolivia apply them in their domestic settings until national competition laws are adopted.

Although this provision is well-intended and it may help in overcoming the impasse in the processes leading to the adoption of national competition laws in both countries, this paper will argue it may have undesirable effects. Not only it may undermine the goals of RTA competition rules, but also may worsen the prospective of domestic competition rules being adopted. Besides, the transfer of Andean rules to the national system requires considerable effort to adapt them to national institutional background, and even afterwards some conflicts and interferences may arise.

Keywords: Regional Trade Agreement (RTA), Andean Community, Antitrust Law, Ecuador, Bolivia

JEL Classification: F13, K21, L40