EUROPEAN COMMISSION OPENS ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION AGAINST MONDELĒZ

29 Ocak 2021

The European Commission (“Commission”) announced on Thursday that they have launched a formal antitrust investigation against Mondelēz.

In the investigation, they will evaluate whether Mondelēz has restricted competition in a range of national markets for chocolate, biscuits and coffee by hindering the cross-border trade of these products between EU Member States, which would be in breach of EU antitrust rules.

The points which will be investigated by the Commission are as follows :

  • Possible limitations of the sales territories within the EU through agreements that determine in which Member State a trader can or cannot sell the products, or that restrict passive sales;
  • Possible curtailing of parallel trade through agreements that raise prices or limit volumes specifically for customers that trade the products across Member States;
  • Possible agreements with customers not to engage in parallel trade or not to procure products from parallel trade, inter alia, in exchange for payments or other forms of compensation;
  • Possible restrictions on the languages used on packaging either unilaterally or through agreements with traders, thereby creating friction on sales to certain other EU Member States;
  • Possibly refusing to supply certain traders with a view to restricting imports into certain markets.

If proven, the agreements and practices under investigation may create anticompetitive obstacles to trade within the EU Internal Market in breach of Articles 101 and/or Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

You can reach the press release here.

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Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

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