Competition Bureau Hosts the International Marketing Supervision Network Meeting

OTTAWA, September 24, 1996 — Francine Matte, Q.C., Acting Director of Investigation and Research under the Competition Act, announced today that the Competition Bureau will be hosting the fifth annual meeting of the International Marketing Supervision Network in Ottawa from September 25 to 27, 1996.

In addition to hosting the meeting of the Network, the Competition Bureau's Deputy Director of Investigation and Research (Marketing Practices), Rachel Larabie-LeSieur, will assume her presidency for one year. This will be the first time that the annual meeting of the network takes place, and its secretariat established, outside the European continent.

"While the great majority of commercial activities are legitimate in nature, we must be aware that the increasingly international nature of business activity creates greater potential for international deceptive marketing practices," said Ms. Matte. "As a result, the global marketplace and the increase in cross-border commercial transactions have created an urgent need for the development of a proactive and cooperative approach to dealing with problems arising from unfair trade practices."

The Network consists of an alliance of organizations from member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and from non-member countries with observer status in the OECD involved with the promotion and enforcement of fair trading practices.

The mandate of the Network is to share information on cross-border activities that impact on markets and to encourage cooperation to explore opportunities for enforcement action. Telemarketing, deceptive mail solicitations and international resale of lottery tickets are among the topics for discussion at this meeting.