Another infringement proceeding before the Commission for Protection of Competition in the field of consumer electronics retail

29.09.2020.

Only several days after the initiation of the infringement proceeding against Roming Electronics, Tehnomania and Comtrade Distribution, the Commission for Protection of Competition (the Commission) announced that it had initiated another ex-officio infringement proceeding against consumer electronics retailers SF1 Coffee, which is an importer and distributor of Nespresso and Pandora coffee machines.

Namely, the Commission reasonably assumed, by inspecting the internet sales, that the prices of Nespresso coffee machines on the market of the Republic of Serbia are identical, or almost identical, and that the company SF1 Coffee influenced the prices of products of the brand whose distributor is resold, which represents a restrictive agreement in accordance with Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition.

Pursuant to Article 10 of the Law on Protection of Competition, restrictive agreements are agreements between market participants that have the goal or consequence of significantly restricting, distorting or preventing competition on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Furthermore, it is stipulated that restrictive agreements can be contracts, certain provisions of contracts, explicit or tacit agreements, harmonized practices, as well as decisions on the form of association of undertakings, which directly or indirectly determine purchase or sale prices or other trade conditions.

The Commission is to determine and prove the existence of a restrictive agreement in this specific proceeding, i.e. the existence of a contract or agreement between undertakings relating to the fixing of prices and terms of trade.