INCSOC International Network of Civil Society Organisations on Competition

The International Network of Civil Society Organisations on Competition (INCSOC) was floated by several civil society organisations (CSOs) as a coalition promoting a healthy competition culture in the World.

The concept came out of extensive work on the subject of competition policy & law undertaken by Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS). INCSOC was the result of a path-breaking project on comparison of competition regimes in seven developing countries (popularly called the 7Up Project) of Asia & Africa (2000-02). The 7Up Project revealed a dire need for building a network of stakeholders, especially civil society, so that the competition regimes at the national levels could be strengthened, and developed. This need has been further underscored in the 7Up2 (2004-06) and 7Up3 (2005- 08) projects of CUTS. Competition enforcement agencies of different countries of the world have responded to such a situation through the formation of International Competition Network (ICN).

Similar initiative have also been launched by various international agencies such as OECD and UNCTAD. To complement such initiatives and enhance peoples’ participation, it was essential to establish a coalition on competition for the civil society, whose voice on the global stage is not as strong as is desirable. INCSOC endeavours to fulfill this role.