Ineffective monitoring of restrictive business practices due to inadequate regulation

There are two main difficulties which confront authorities in obtaining information on restrictive practices from firms, in particular as regards such involving the activities of transnational corporations. These are: (a) company refusals to supply information because of its so-called secret nature since it relates to intra-company relations; and (b) states' unwillingness to permit companies within their jurisdiction to transmit documents requested by foreign authorities or courts. It is often the subsidiaries or parent companies of transnational corporations located in foreign countries which possess the information requested, and hence the ability to obtain such information depends not only on the willingness of the company in question to provide it, but also on the willingness of governments in foreign countries to permit the supply of the information requested.