AS371 – REGULATION OF THE RETAIL SALE OF NON-PRESCRIPTION PHARMACEUTICALS
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Over-the-counter pharmaceuticals: Antitrust Authority reports the Regions of Lombardy and Umbria obstructing sales through non-pharmacy channels. Their anti-competitive regulations must be changed.
The Regions of Lombardy and Umbria, in regulating the retail sale of non-prescription pharmaceuticals, have introduced requirements which appear to place undue restrictions on competition and so risk obstructing the development of sales channels other than pharmacies. A statement to this effect by the Italian Competition Authority is contained in a note sent to the Presidents of the two Regions Roberto Formigoni and Maria Rita Lorenzetti, to Romano Prodi in his role as President of the Permanent National-Regional Conference, to the Minister of Regional Affairs and Local Autonomy Linda Lanzillotta, to the Minister of Economic Development Pierluigi Bersani and to the Minister of Health Livia Turco. The Authority requests that these two Regions modify the new regulations so as to bring them into conformity with the principles of free and fair competition.
The note in question points out that the Regional Government of Lombardy, in a provision of 4 October last, specifies that the department where pharmaceuticals are sold should be separated by a wall or glass partition from the rest of the store, should have its own contiguous storage area as well as its own cash register and fax machine. The Regional Government of Umbria, too, on 30 October last enacted a provision requiring a dedicated fax machine and cash register for such a department, which in any case must be inaccessible to the public when the pharmacist is absent.
In the Authority’s view, the requirements stipulated in these two regulations unjustifiably restrict competition amongst outlets which are authorized to sell over-the-counter pharmaceuticals: they represent important cost factors which may constitute a significant barrier to entry for smaller businesses like, for example, drugstores, small-to-medium sanitary equipment stores, health-food stores and small supermarkets. This results in an unjustified reduction in the competitive pressure new retail businesses can bring to bear on established operators, i.e. pharmacies.
In particular, the requirement to separate the department using a wall or glass partition and to have a contiguous storage area could become an insurmountable obstacle for smaller stores. The stipulation of dedicated cash registers and fax machines also seem to be disproportionate measures that, besides, are not specified either in Law 248/06 which liberalized the sale of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals or in the enabling circular from the Ministry of Health.
The Authority believes these two regulations have the potential to create for new retailers of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals – and especially the smaller ones – much heavier burdens than those borne by pharmacies.
Rome, 25 November 2006