BRICS Launches Joint Study on Competition in Global Grain Trade

© HSE University

At the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) headquarters in Geneva, experts and representatives of competition authorities and international organisations discussed competition in the global grain trade. The discussions resulted in the establishment of a BRICS project task force that will prepare the bloc’s first joint sectoral study of the grain market. The initiative was presented by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre based at HSE University.

The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre organised the discussion ‘Promoting Competition in Global Grain Trade: A BRICS Joint Effort’ as part of the 23rd session of the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy in Geneva. The event included a closed meeting of the BRICS competition authorities’ Working Group on Food Markets, followed by an open panel discussion involving researchers, academics, and representatives of international organisations.

The discussions focused on competition trends in the global grain trade, as well as the growing impact of finance and digitalisation on the sector. Participants explored ways to make the global grain market more transparent and predictable. The debate was based on the findings of a report by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, which was presented at the 9th BRICS International Competition Conference in Cape Town in September 2025.

Task Force for the Sectoral Study of the Grain Market

The sectoral study will become the first joint analysis of competition in the global grain market conducted by the BRICS competition authorities under a memorandum of cooperation signed in 2016. The conceptual framework and proposed structure of the future study were developed and presented by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre at the BRICS Working Group for the Research of Competition Issues in Food Markets meeting in February 2026.

Following the meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Food, a dedicated project task force was established to carry out the sectoral study. It will be co-chaired by Diogo Thomson, Head of Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE), and Mahmoud Momtaz, Chairperson of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA).

Diogo Thompson

Diogo Thomson welcomed the initiative and expressed hope that the findings would be presented at the next BRICS International Competition Conference, due to take place in Brazil in September 2027. ‘CADE is currently the only BRICS competition authority that has examined the digital platforms created by global grain traders, such as Covantis and TRACT. I am pleased that this issue receives significant attention in the report prepared by the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre. I believe our joint sectoral study will enable us to build on this work, deepen our understanding of the digitalisation of global grain supply chains, and draw conclusions that will help protect and promote competition in this area,’ he said.

Mahmoud Momtaz

The BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre’s report highlights the unusually dominant role played by global traders in the international grain market, noted Mahmoud Momtaz. ‘We are faced with a paradoxical situation in which farmers in Brazil or Russia receive inadequate returns for their work, while consumers in Egypt pay excessively high prices for bread. Where does the margin end up, and who is making unjustified profits from global grain supply chains? These are the questions our sectoral study must answer,’ he said.

Mahmoud Momtaz also proposed that the joint study should include the development of a shared AI-powered digital tool for monitoring prices across the BRICS countries. Defining the technical specifications of the project, he said, should become one of the key priorities of the newly established task force. ‘Such a tool would provide us with rapid access to the information needed to analyse the global grain market and would serve as an important complement to the joint sectoral study,’ he added.

Practical Steps: The BRICS Grain Exchange

Hardin Ratshisusu, Deputy Commissioner of the South African Competition Commission, noted that the sectoral study marks an important step in implementing the initiative to establish a BRICS Grain Exchange, endorsed by BRICS leaders in the declarations adopted at the Kazan Summit in 2024 and the Rio de Janeiro Summit in 2025.

Hardin Ratshisusu

‘A grain exchange, if established on pro-competitive principles and designed in line with international best practices in competition policy, could become a powerful instrument for transforming the global grain market by making it more transparent and predictable. Designing such a BRICS Grain Exchange with competition at its core is a task that should be undertaken by our countries’ competition authorities to ensure the most effective implementation of the agreements reached by our leaders,’ said Hardin Ratshisusu.

Alexey Ivanov

‘The competition authorities of the BRICS countries can play a pivotal role in shaping the architecture of the BRICS Grain Exchange by ensuring that it is designed to enhance market transparency and promote competition,’ believes Alexey Ivanov, Director of the International BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre and Professor of Law at HSE University.

He also proposed the establishment of an interdisciplinary UN working group bringing together expertise in competition policy, trade, agriculture, and development in order to develop a comprehensive approach to the future development of global food markets. At the plenary session of the 5th Russian Grain Forum, held in May 2026 and attended by Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Russia’s Minister of Agriculture, Alexey Ivanov outlined in detail the key prerequisites for the successful launch of a BRICS Grain Exchange based on pro-competitive principles.

Yin Jie, a representative of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), stressed the importance of the sectoral study for strengthening BRICS cooperation in the field of competition policy. He also welcomed the decision to hold the next meeting of the BRICS competition authorities’ Working Group on Food in Beijing this September alongside the China International Forum on Fair Competition Policy. Support for the BRICS countries’ efforts to create a more level playing field in the global grain market was also expressed by Hilman Pujana, Vice Chairperson of Indonesia’s Competition Commission (KPPU), who participated in the working group meeting; as well as Eunice Hamavhwa, Acting Executive Director of Zambia’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC); Willard Mwemba, Chief Executive Officer of the COMESA Competition Commission; and Maksim Yermalovich, Member of the Board—Minister in charge of Competition and Antitrust Regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), who joined the discussion. Rémi Lang, Officer in charge of the Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, (UNCTAD), also gave his full backing to the proposed sectoral study and pledged UNCTAD’s support for the initiative.

Maksim Yermalovich

Maksim Yermalovich, in particular, noted that the proposed sectoral study would require new approaches to data collection and analysis. In his view, artificial intelligence tools capable of processing large volumes of publicly available data could play an important role in improving understanding of market developments. ‘We are ready to join the work of the newly established project task force and contribute to the implementation of this initiative. The Eurasian Economic Commission already has considerable experience in analysing food markets, and we are prepared to build on this expertise in cooperation with the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre as part of the joint study,’ he said.

Working Together 

Ruslan Dzhalyukov

Ruslan Dzhalyukov, Deputy Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), believes that the key to success lies in further strengthening cooperation between competition authorities. ‘Cooperation among the BRICS countries in the field of competition policy continues to develop and is already delivering tangible practical results. We work together in socially significant sectors, including digital markets, agriculture and food supply chains, and pharmaceuticals, while also exchanging expertise and experience. Meetings such as today’s are important because they allow us to review the progress of ongoing projects. I am confident that this cooperation will continue.’

Willard Mwemba

Willard Mwemba, Chief Executive Officer of the COMESA Competition Commission, stressed the importance of involving governments more closely in efforts to promote competition in food markets. ‘Government policy itself often gives rise to anti-competitive practices, patterns of behaviour, and market structures. These decisions are rarely intended to restrict competition; on the contrary, they are usually driven by good intentions. However, competition policy considerations are frequently overlooked because competition specialists are not involved in the policymaking process. The key question, therefore, is how governments can be more effectively engaged in addressing these issues,’ he said. Mr Mwemba also highlighted the challenge of limited resources. ‘We all recognise that our resources are finite. That is precisely why it is so important to pool our efforts and work together.’

Sophia Murphy, Executive Director of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (United States), echoed this view, emphasising that competition policy must be considered alongside trade policy, investment policy and other areas of public policymaking. She argued that greater coordination and integration between these policy areas is essential, as competition cannot be effectively promoted in isolation from other economic instruments. At the same time, without a fully competitive environment, many other political and economic measures also have limited chances of success.

Claudio Lombardi

Claudio Lombardi, Professor of Law at the University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom), argued that one of the most pressing challenges is how to build a counterbalancing, self-regulating force through cooperation among the competition authorities of the BRICS+ countries. He also highlighted the need to overcome information gaps and the current situation in which competition authorities often collect and analyse data independently rather than working collaboratively. ‘Only by joining forces can competition authorities achieve truly meaningful results,’ he said.

Frédéric Jenny (with microphone)

© HSE University

Frédéric Jenny, former long-serving Chair of the OECD Competition Committee and Emeritus Professor at ESSEC Business School (France), praised the work of the BRICS Competition Centre in analysing competition in the global grain trade. ‘This project demonstrates how the competition authorities of the BRICS countries are becoming drivers of change in competition law and policy worldwide, rather than simply following the initiatives of developed economies, as one might have expected. Today, there are very few examples anywhere in the world of such promising cooperation between competition authorities. Choosing to collaborate through a joint sectoral study and focusing on the global grain market—a field that is both socially important and methodologically fascinating—is, in my view, one of the key reasons for the success of this partnership,’ he concluded.