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The winners and honorable mentions of the ICN-WBG 2021 Competition Advocacy Contest were selected by the following panel (in alphabetical order):

¡¤&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Eleanor M. Fox, Walter J. Derenberg Professor of Trade Regulation, New York University School of Law

¡¤&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Georgiana Pop, Senior Economist, Global Markets, Competition and Technology Unit, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice, World Bank Group

¡¤&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Mariana Tavares de Araujo, Senior Partner, Levy & Salom?o Advogados

¡¤&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è;&²Ô²ú²õ±è; Martha Martinez Licetti, Practice Manager, Global Markets, Competition and Technology Unit, Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation Global Practice, World Bank Group

Mexico ¨C The Federal Economic Competition Commission, COFECE (Winner)

COFECE advocacy initiative addressed a series of measures envisaged by the Government and Congress that would overturn an important reform of the electricity sector introduced in 2013, with the aim of ensuring a transition from a model with one state-owned enterprise (SOE) to one allowing private participation in the generation and wholesale of electricity. This reform also fostered increased participation of clean energy generation. The counter reform of the government may compromise competition in the electricity industry whilst discouraging new electricity projects including those based on clean sources and may lead to higher prices and/or higher government subsidies. COFECE carried out an advocacy strategy including issuing opinions and participating in constitutional litigation related to agreements and policies issued by the Government and laws passed by Congress. In one legal case against a Government-issued regulation, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of COFECE, declaring unconstitutional the provisions that most affect competition.

Japan: The Japan Fair Trade Commission, JFTC (Winner)

The JFTC carried out a market study in the FinTech sector to learn whether and how new entrants utilizing new technologies would create new and innovative services and stimulate competition with incumbent banks with focus on cashless payment services with QR Code and barcode which have become more widespread under the COVID-19 pandemic. The JFTC engaged with the 206 operators of the business community (banks, funds transfer service providers and retail payment infrastructure providers) and 4,000 users of such services and noted differences between bank and non-bank operators, especially with respect to usage charges and interbank fees. The report recommended measures aimed at lowering usage charges and facilitating transactions, which inspired the whole government¡¯s initiative for innovation and growth and were included in the government's concrete plan for national growth strategies.

Israel ¨C The Israel Competition Authority, ICA (Winner)

Israel Competition Authority successfully advocated for the withdraw of a government¡¯s proposal to suspend competition among the four state-funded health providers (HSOs) during the pandemic so to allow them to focus on providing care under the severe conditions of the Coivd-19 pandemic. While being financed in accordance with the number of citizens registered at each HSO, they are expected to compete over the quality of service, but the proposal would have suspended the possibility of switching providers by patients. Such limitations would have reduced the quality of HSOs, also in terms of numbers of doctors and lab services available and the level of care regarding Covid-19. After conducting a market inquiry, the ICA issued a policy paper and engaged with several stakeholders thus strengthened the public perception of the importance of competition in the public sector.

Peru ¨C The National Institute for the Defense of Free Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property, Indecopi (Winner)

Indecopi¡¯s advocacy efforts focused on the revision of regulations in markets which became essential during the Covid-19 crisis, such as the medicinal oxygen market, which was heavily impacted due to the rapid increase in demand from March to August 2020 that caused a major shortage and the filling of numerous complaints. The agency issued a report on the medicinal oxygen market containing recommendations addressed to State entities aimed at improving the competition conditions. The report included an analysis of the purchases of medicinal oxygen made by public entities, recommended alternative solutions for the efficient use of public resources, and most importantly advocated for the relaxation of a technical requirement which prevented the entry of new producers in this market. Such recommendations were adopted by the government and contributed to address the critical shortage of oxygen which caused a severe impact in the country.

Egypt ¨C The Egyptian Competition Authority, ECA (Honorable Mention)

In the context of COVID-19, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) successfully advocated for the uplift of restrictions in the production of ethanol hand-sanitizers. The ECA provided recommendations to the regulatory authority responsible for granting the licenses for the production of ethanol hand-sanitizers. The regulatory authority imposed arbitrary requirements for new undertakings wishing to obtain such licenses. It also imposed as maximum production quotas on the licensed undertakings. The ECA cooperated with the regulatory authority in order to lower entry barriers and remove the quotas. The implementation of the ECA¡¯s recommendations has led to new market entry and consequently to a decrease in the prices of ethanol hand-sanitizers.

Spain ¨C The National Commission of Markets and Competition, CNMC (Honorable Mention)

At the very beginning of the lockdown, in March 2020, the CNMC detected that the exceptional situation required a swift response from the public administrations. Therefore, it set up a dedicated mailbox with two purposes: on one hand, to support businesses willing to cooperate in response to the Covid19 crisis, by addressing their concerns and requests for guidance; on the other, to help consumers in time of uncertainty and confusion created by the pandemic in many markets. This initiative was widely advertised on the media, also through periodical press releases giving account of the CNMC monitoring and investigation activities. Around 700 queries were received within the period of 4 months (from March to July 2020) and most of them were answered within a week.

The information below will be used for blind review. While answering, don¡¯t identify your institution or jurisdiction. Please use generic words like "legislation", "agency", "region" or "country" to avoid identification.

1

A summary of the advocacy initiative (150 words). Please include information covering (i) socioeconomic relevance of the intervention, (ii) the issue tackled by the initiative, (iii) the solution proposed/implemented and/or (iv) impact when available.

2

The competition issue under assessment. (150 words)

3

The strategy used to address the issue. It can include, for instance, communication strategy, stakeholders involved, resources allocated, evidence building. (150 words)

4

The main messages and recommendations conveyed by the advocacy activity. (150 words)

5

The results of the initiative. For example: (i) recommendations were implemented by public bodies, (ii) opinions were published or disseminated, (iii) other immediate changes generated by the initiative. (150 words)

6

Information whether the initiative (i) is inspired by initiatives of other jurisdictions, (ii) is inspired by other initiatives in your jurisdiction, or (iii) inspired other initiatives locally or abroad. Please provide brief information on other initiatives if applicable.

7

Effective or expected socioeconomic impacts. For instance, level of consumer savings, investment, value added, entry of new firms, others. (150 words)

8

Lessons learned with the initiative. (150 words)