Competition investigates health food supplier price fixing

This Monday, the Office of Competition (AdC) announced that it is investigating resale pricing on health food products, a practice by the supplier with distributors that prevents them from freely setting selling prices.

According to the process details published on the AdC website, the supplier in question is Dietmed – Produtos Dietéticos e Medicinais.

The AdC is “investigating anti-competitive practices by a health food supplier against distributors by preventing them from freely setting selling prices to the public,” the regulator said in a note published this Monday.

“The investigation began in November 2022, and back in the same year, ADC conducted searches and seizures at the premises of the company in question,” he emphasized, pointing out that “as a result of this investigation, there were signs that the company recorded and established retail prices of nutritional supplements and other healthy foods on a regular and aggregated basis, at least between 2016 and 2022.”

The AdC explained that it issued an illegality note (charge) to the target company “which ends the investigation phase and begins the investigation phase of the process”, noting that whenever it “concludes based on the investigations conducted that there is a reasonable possibility that that a final decision will be made on the existence of a violation, issues an indictment.

With the indictment on May 24, the process is “no longer a secret of justice, becoming public”, which clarifies that at the “investigation stage that has now been completed, the target company that intends to do so can initiate negotiations.” with AdC, for the purpose of submitting a deal offer.”

In addition, during the learning phase, “AdC gives the target company the opportunity to exercise the right to be heard and defended in relation to the detected behavior, the evidence collected and the sanctions that it may incur.”

In addition, “in the Notice of Unlawfulness Note, the APC sets out a reasonable period of time, at least 30 days, for the target company to issue a written opinion on matters that may be of interest in resolving the case. , about the evidence presented or about the sanctions that he may incur”, and “once the instructions for the process are completed, the AdC makes the final decision.”

The regulator explained that “AdC’s allegation concerns the fixing and imposing by the supplier on distributors on a regular and general basis of the prices at which their products must be sold to end consumers”, stressing that “the practice of fixing resale prices is contrary to the Competition Law and is detrimental to consumers.”

According to the AdC, “if a final decision is made on sanctions for anti-competitive practices, companies can be fined up to 10% of their turnover and up to 10% of the perpetrators’ remuneration.”