Christine Varney to Participate in Ninth Annual
International Competition Network Conference
in Istanbul, Turkey

WASHINGTON – Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will participate in the ninth annual International Competition Network (ICN) conference in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 27-29, 2010.  At the conference, senior government antitrust officials, private-sector antitrust experts and representatives of intergovernmental organizations will meet to discuss competition issues.

The ICN conference will focus on the recent accomplishments of its five main working groups, which address: unilateral conduct, mergers, cartels, competition advocacy and agency effectiveness.  Conference panels will discuss the role of outside parties in merger review, the analysis of price squeezes, trends in anti-cartel enforcement and the interaction of competition policy with other policies.  Members will also approve working group programs for the coming year. 

In October 2001, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) joined with antitrust agencies from 13 other jurisdictions around the world (Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Zambia) to create the ICN.  The ICN now includes 112 member agencies from 99 jurisdictions. The goal of the ICN is to provide a forum for antitrust agencies to address enforcement and policy issues of common interest, and to propose ways that member governments could more closely align their policies and enforcement.

The following portions of this year’s conference will be open to the press:

TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 1)

8:30 A.M. (Istanbul), 1:30 A.M. (EDT) – Opening Remarks by Turkish and ICN Officials

10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – 2010 ICN Work Product Session
ICN Working Groups will present their work product from this past ICN year, including presentations by the Agency Effectiveness Working Group, Advocacy Working Group, Cartel Working Group, Merger Working Group and Unilateral Conduct Working Group.

11:20 A.M. (Istanbul), 4:20 A.M. (EDT) – Vice Chair Session
This session will be moderated by Philip Collins, Chairman, U.K. Office of Fair Trading; and Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic, Vice Chair for Outreach, will be a panelist.

2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Planning for the ICN’s Second Decade
John Fingleton, Chair, ICN Steering Group, and CEO of the U.K. Office of Fair Trading will moderate this session.  

3:55 P.M. (Istanbul), 8:55 A.M. (EDT) – Agency Effectiveness Session
This Plenary Session will focus on “Strategic Planning and Prioritization.”  Panelists will include FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.
     
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 2)

9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Merger Session
Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will moderate a panel on “The Role and Rights of Third Parties in Merger Review.”

10:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 3:00 A.M. (EDT) – Unilateral Conduct Session
Andreas Mundt, President, Bundeskartellamt, will provide opening remarks to the plenary session focusing on “Putting the Squeeze on Competitive Pricing? – Competition Policy Toward Margin Squeezes,” which will be moderated by Randolph W. Tritell, Director of the FTC’s Office of International Affairs.

2:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 7:00 A.M. (EDT) – Special Project: The Interface between Competition Policy and other Public Policies
This plenary session will focus on a special project undertaken by the Turkish Competition Authority to study the interface between competition policy and other public policies.  Panelists will include Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic.

5:00 P.M. (Istanbul), 10:00 A.M. (EDT) – Advocacy Session

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2010: 9th ANNUAL ICN CONFERENCE (DAY 3)

9:00 A.M. (Istanbul), 2:00 A.M. (EDT) – Cartel Session
Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Enforcement of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, will moderate a panel discussion on “Trends in Cartel Enforcement and Policy.”

12:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 5:15 A.M. (EDT) - Report Back and Future Work  

1:15 P.M. (Istanbul), 6:15 A.M. (EDT) – Closing

Complete information about the conference is available at www.icn-istanbul.org/. The 2010 ICN conference will be held at Swissotel The Bosphorus, Bayildim Cad. No. 2 Macka Besiktas 34357.  Phone: +90-212-326-1100; Fax: +90-212-326-1122.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Federal Trade Commission, Mitchell J. Katz, 202-326-2161

Department of Justice, Gina Talamona, 202-514-2007