The increased globalisation of markets and companies has prompted the question of what the response to globalisation should be for competition policy.
This is already being considered in a number of international organisations including the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
As the importance of some of the government imposed barriers to market access, such as tariffs, has diminished, attention has focused on other issues, in this case the effectiveness of national competition policies in tackling the anti-competitive behaviour of firms.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's (BERR) Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate (CCP) are responsible for developing UK policy on trade and competition issues in conjunction with other interested BERR Directorates and other Government Departments.
This area has pages on some international competition issues. See also our International Competition Policy page.