Outside the European Union there are other organisations that seek to coordinate the activities of national competition authorities. Although the work they do is not backed by the formal legal provisions that preside the relations, for example, between the European Commission and the national competition of European Union Member States, their activity is nonetheless very useful for coordinating pro-competition efforts in different countries in an increasingly globalised world in which companies operate across many markets simultaneously.
One of the most important multilateral institutions is the International Competition Network (ICN). The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) have also served as forums for coordinating competition policies.