Joint Fighting Against Cartel Practices in The Member States of The Regional Economic Zone

Abstract

In general terms, a cartel is considered as a form of agreement between competitors in a similar industry whose purpose is for maximizing profit only for the members of the cartel. There are several principle considerations regarding the establishment of the cartel, such as the mechanism of how the cartel works, how to reveal the cartel and the impact for the competition as well as for the consumers. These understandings are needed in order to handle cartel practices appropriately, both from the aspect of prevention as well as law enforcement. Most of all, countries that are doing an action to fight against cartels will face various obstacles and challenges in order to overcome this practice. The states which are incorporated in a regional economic zone, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), have performed a cooperative action that agrees together to fight against the cartel. This cooperation is executed by doing strategic steps from the level of investigation, starting from detecting, doing a pre-investigation appraisal, investigation planning, and resourcing, as well as making strategies for investigation progress and preparing written recommendations.