The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has partnered with fellow Five Eyes competition authorities to prevent anti-competitive conduct from happening in the supply and distribution of goods.
The new working group is made up of the ACCC, US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation, Canadian Competition Bureau, NZ Commerce Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
The launch of the group comes after the COVID-19 pandemic led to significant disruptions in the global supply chain, leading to exorbitant freight rates - which are currently about seven times higher than two years ago - and increased prices of goods.
The working group will focus on illegal conduct, including collusion, cartels and exclusionary arrangements in global supply chains.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said that the organisations will not hesitate to act if anti-competitive behaviour is found.
"The global freight supply chain is a complex network involving many jurisdictions, so naturally detecting anti-competitive conduct requires strong international partnerships.
"COVID-19 has caused the supply chain disruptions the world is currently experiencing, but the purpose of this working group is to detect any attempts by businesses to use these conditions as a cover to work together and fix prices.
"We will be sharing intelligence to identify any behaviour that restricts or distorts competition, and companies are now on notice that the ACCC and its international counterparts will be ready to act.
"Australia is an open, trade-exposed economy, and like the other international agencies in this working group, we have a very strong interest in preserving strong competitive markets for global trade," he said.
The new working group builds on the Multilateral Mutual Assistance and Cooperation Framework for Competition Authorities (MMAC) that was established in September 2020.
Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.