A Research On Multilateral Competition Rules

Because of the multinational characteristic of international monopoly and the states as its direct object, the international antitrust law unifies all the domestic laws by harmonizing and changing domestic laws and activities of the states. Thus, it is difficult to give birth to binding multinational competition rules. Havana Charter in 1947 did not come into effect; The Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices (The Set Principles and Rules) in 1980 was just a declaration; Draft for International Antitrust Code in 1993 did not bring into expecting effect too; the concerned documents issued by OECD were of free will and were not international rules made by litigation. Under this circumstance, UN Model Law on Competition in 2004 came into being after many times of discussion, consultation and amendment.The Intergovernmental Group of Expert Meeting on Competition Law and Policy, which works under UNCTAD, is the pioneer in the research field of competition law and policy, with Model Law on Competition as its main achievement. After the publication of Model Law on Competition, the expert meeting hold meetings regularly to revise the Model Law, taking into account new legislative developments in this field. On 19 February 2003, an Ad hoc Expert Group Meeting was held in Geneva, the Model Law on Competition was further revised and the latest edition was published. The Model Law consists of three parts, namely Substantive Possible Elements for a Competition Law, Commentaries on Chapters of the Model Law and alternative approaches in existing legislation and Annexes. It is affluent in content and information, including Competition legislation in the UN Member States and other entities (with year of adoption), the comparison among concerned articles, the analysis of competition law theories, new legislative developments and so on. Therefore, based on the research on the Model Law, the dissertation explores the trends of international competition law, in order to supply valuable experiences for our litigation and practices.The whole dissertation is composed of 3 chapters. Chapter 1 explores multinational competition rules, including The Set of Principles and Rules, Draft for International Antitrust Code and concerned documents issued by OECD.Chapter 2 introduces UN Model Law on Competition. Section 1 reviews the background, drafting and amending processes of the Model Law. Section 2 introduces and comments on the Model Law. The article first discusses the objectives, scope of application and concerned definitions. Then, this article explores such important issues as restrictive agreements or arrangements, acts or behavior constituting an abuse of a dominant position of market power, mergers affecting concentrated markets, the relationship between competition authority and regulatory bodies, including sectoral regulators, the administering authority and its organization. Section 3 makes a profound comparison between the Model Law and The Set Principles and Rules. Finally, Section 4 makes a brief comment on the Model Law. Chapter 3 elaborates the present situation and the perfection of Chinese competition litigation. Based on the above research and combined with the present situation, the article brings forward some concrete suggestions, in order to perfect our competition legal system.