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1. An APEC Workshop was held on Competition Policy and Deregulation in Quebec City, Canada on 18-19 May 1997.
   
2. The Workshop covered the following agenda topics:

• Technical assistance;

• A report by PECC ON its Conference on Trade and Competition Policy held in Montreal on 13-14 May 1997;

• Approaches to deregulation;

• Occupational regulation;

• The regulation of natural monopolies;

• The interrelationship between competition policy and/or laws and other policies related to trade and investment;

• Information sharing;

• What is necessary to ensure an effective and adequate competition law; and

• The individual action plans for competition policy and deregulation.

3. The Workshop considered existing technical assistance initiatives and ways which APEC could facilitate future technical assistance. Specifically, the Workshop:

• considered Japan� report on the first APEC Partners for Progress seminar on competition policy held in Bangkok, Thailand on 18-21 March 1997;

• endorsed Japan� proposal for a second APEC Partners for Progress seminar on competition policy focusing on the practical application of competition law and policy. The Workshop noted the desirability of short programmes in the interests of attracting participants and presenters;

• noted that Korea will be holding a training programme on competition policy in Seoul on 4-8 August 1997; and

• acknowledged the importance of effective coordination of all forms of technical assistance initiatives. To this end, the Workshop agreed that economies would:

1. include information on their planned technical assistance activities in their individual action plans; and
   
2. provide to New Zealand, as convenor economy, early information on their planned technical assistance activities.

4. Mrs Kerrin Vautier of the PECC Trade Policy Forum reported on the PECC Conference on Trade and Competition Policy. The Workshop endorsed PECC's proposed work on guiding principles for the development of an international competition policy framework.
   
5. Chinese Taipei and Japan presented papers on approaches to deregulation. The Workshop concluded that it is necessary to apply a principles-based approach to deregulation for the purposes of achieving comprehensiveness and analytical consistency. The Workshop discussed the importance of governments developing effective strategies to promote regulatory reform policies. [Collective Action Matrix commitments on guiding principles for deregulation and the symposium for regulatory reform to be discussed on day two].
   
6. Australia presented a paper on occupational regulation. The Workshop noted the proposed set of guiding principles for the design of quality occupational regulation. The Workshop noted the relevance of this issue for other APEC areas such as Services and the Mobility of Business People. [Discuss possibility of endorsing further development of Australian guidelines in consultation with other APEC fora.]
   
7. Hong Kong and the United States presented papers on the regulation of natural monopolies. [Add comment following discussion on day two.]
   
8. The Workshop discussed the interrelationship between competition policy and/or laws and other policies related to trade and investment. It was introduced by an independent discussant, Dr Alan Bollard of New Zealand. Following the discussion the workshop noted:

• that such an examination was required by the Osaka Action Agenda as well as the collective action matrix for competition policy and deregulation;

• that at their 9-10 May meeting in Montreal, APEC trade ministers considered how APEC could support the multilateral trading system. Ministers "affirmed their commitment to engage in the necessary analysis and exchange of information to allow members to better understand the issues involved and to identify their interests". Competition policy was one area where Ministers specifically called on APEC "to demonstrate leadership" in the multilateral trade agenda;

• the challenges posed for both trade and competition policies by the globalising world economy and in particular by the increasing dispersion of production across national boundaries;

• the blurring of boundaries between trade and competition policies and the need for increasing policy coherence between the two;

• that APEC members are going through a process of adjustment to a more open and competitive environment;

• that more work is required to properly define the issues linking trade and competition policies and that once these have been defined, APEC will need to focus on specific and achievable work areas.

• how exactly trade instruments and the practice of trade policy affect the environment for competition and regulatory policy (and vice versa) in APEC economies and ways and the extent to which changes in competition and regulatory policy in APEC economies, might lead to a review of the current approach to the use of trade instruments;

• he workshop agreed that APEC, drawing on the assistance of PECC, should develop a framework of analysis for these issues, and list these specific measures which are to be examined.

• The Workshop considered a report from Chinese Taipei on its APEC Competition Policy and Deregulation Internet database��.

• Canada and Malaysia presented papers on what is necessary to ensure an effective and adequate competition law��.