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AL14 - Abuse of commercial power in the agri-food business. Investigation and inspection of two companies forming part of coop


PRESS RELEASE


PRESS RELEASE

 

ABUSE OF COMMERCIAL POWER IN THE AGRI-FOOD BUSINESS. INVESTIGATION AND INSPECTION OF TWO COMPANIES FORMING PART OF COOP

Acting on information provided by a supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, the Antitrust Authority launched an investigation against Coop Italia and Centrale Adriatica, on commercial relations between operators in the agri-food industry: the procedures are meant to check whether the two companies forming a consortium of the Coop system, a leader in the sector of large retail chains in Italy, violated Article 62 of Decree Law 1/2012, the so-called Decree on liberalization, and the provisions of the relative Decree on implementation. These rules, which gave a new jurisdiction to the Antitrust Authority, prohibit the stronger contracting party, in the presence of an imbalance of commercial power between parties that have a relationship for the supply of food products, from imposing unfair conditions on the negotiating partner.

In the notice at the start of the investigation, the two operators were questioned in particular about having abused their position of commercial strength to impose upon the supplier, the weaker party of the contract, a number of discounts and overly burdensome financial contributions: it appears that these are not proportionate to the current relationship between the parties and weigh heavily on the agreed price list. According to the Antitrust Authority, moreover, the company Coop implemented further actions that are contrary to the principles of transparency, fairness, proportionality and a mutual relationship in the performance regarding the goods supplied.

The officials of the Antitrust Authority, assisted by officials in the service of the Special Unit for Market Protection of the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Tax Police), carried out inspections at the premises of Coop Italia and Centrale Adriatica. The investigation will be concluded by mid-October 2015.

Rome, 24 June 2015