Cookie preferences

This website uses cookies to improve your browsing experience and to better tailor the website to your preferences. Below you can indicate your cookie preferences:

Essential cookies are cookies that are necessary for the correct functioning of the website (e.g., to avoid overload on the website, keeping it functional and accessible). These cookies can be placed without your consent.

Functional cookies are cookies that are necessary to improve your browsing experience or to provide a functionality explicitly requested by you (e.g. remembering your settings). These cookies can also be placed without your consent.

Analytical cookies are cookies that collect information about how you use the website to improve search engine hits and the functioning of the website (e.g. we see how visitors move around the website when they are using it to ensure that visitors find what they are looking for easily). These cookies are only placed if you have given your consent.

For more information about cookies and the list of cookies used on this website, see our Cookie Statement.

Have you missed our Virtual VBER event? Do not worry! A recording of the entire event, a copy of the speakers’ slides and a Q&A document are made available.


11 November 2021
0
Polish competition authority waive the imposition of a penalty after Trek amended its distribution policies
Investigation 

In June 2019 the Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKIK) has initiated a proceeding regarding Trek Bicycle Corporation suspecting that it may have restricted the possibility of online sale.

The prohibited practice

The authority found that Trek’s distributors were only permitted to deliver bicycles and accessories to customers within traditional stores even if purchased online. Additionally, distributors could only sell bicycles solely in Poland and could not sell goods through third party online platforms. The company’s policies resulted in dividing the market between distributors by limiting the dealer’s sale territory.

UOKIK have decided to close the case without penalty

In response to the agency’s concerns, the company amended its contracts with distributors so that they will not be limited either in their territory nor in their sales channels. The authority considered that this is an exceptional case in which it decided to refrain from punishment due to the constructive attitude of the company, which allowed for the rapid restoration of competition. In effect, the investigation was closed before even formally opening the antitrust proceedings. 

Commentary

Although, passive territorial sales restrictions as well as restriction on online sales are commonly regarded as hardcore ones and normally would be enforced with full-fledged policy instruments (such as heavy fines), Polish authority decided to instigate “soft measures” against Trek. This is not the first time such measure is taken vis-à-vis online sales restrictions. In 2015 the Polish NCA adopted the decision against the baby strollers’ producer Emmaljunga where it imposed commitments in a form of contractual obligation to abandon the restriction at stake in its distribution agreements (here in Polish only).


Save, download or share this article


Stay updated

Subscribe for free and get notified on the latest articles, documentation and publications.

More articles about Poland

SEE MORE

Comment on this article

Sign in to post comments

Subscribe for free and get notified on the latest articles, documentation and publications.

The DLC’s Legal notice applies. contrast BV will process your data in accordance with the Privacy notice.