The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted ex officio proceedings for investigation of infringement of competition against 172 undertakings operating on the baby care products market. This is the seventh such proceedings opened this year against undertakings operating on the baby care products market.

As in the case of previous six proceedings instituted against undertakings operating on the baby care products market, the Commission has reasonably assumed that the seller and buyers of baby care products have set selling prices and other conditions of trade when arranging the cooperation. The reasonable assumption in this proceedings is based on the fact that the agreements concerned contain the provisions that fix resale prices. The provisions mentioned restrict buyers to independently and autonomously make business decisions relating to the respective pricing policies.

The Law on Protection of Competition defines restrictive agreements as agreements between undertakings which as their purpose or effect have a significant restriction, distortion or prevention of competition in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. They may have a form of contracts, certain contract provisions, express or tacit agreements, concerted practices, as well as decisions made by associations of undertakings, which directly or indirectly set the purchase or selling prices or other conditions of trade.
The Commission believes that the baby care products market is of utmost importance for consumers, as well as for the society as a whole and, for that purpose, all instituted proceedings relating to this market are considered to be of primary importance for the Commission which works intensively on a sector inquiry into the overall baby equipment market, the results of which will be presented to the general public.

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information which could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in the proceedings concerned are called upon to submit said to the Commission for Protection of Competition, 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted ex officio proceedings for investigation of infringement of competition on the payment card market against MasterCard payment organization, comprised of companies MasterCard Incorporated, 2000 Purchase Street, Purchase New York 10577, USA; MasterCard International Incorporated, 2000 Purchase Street, Purchase New York 10577, USA; and, MasterCard Europe S.p.r.l, Chaussee de Tervuren 198A, V-1410 Waterloo, Belgium (hereinafter, MasterCard).

The Commission has reasonably assumed that MasterCard, as an association of undertakings on the market of the Republic of Serbia, sets fallback interchange fees in an unfair amount, implemented by MasterCard bank members in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, which are several times higher than those implemented in EU countries.

Considering the fact that interchange fees determine a floor for the price which merchants must pay as a service charge for accepting payment cards to banks, the Commission has reasonably assumed that the competition between acquiring banks is in such manner restricted, which are prevented from negotiating the amount of merchant service charge below the interchange fee. That in turn may affect the consumers if merchants pass on such merchant fees to all consumers through higher retail prices, making products or services more expensive irrespective whether the payment is made by using payment cards or in cash, and potentially adversely affecting the competition on the payment card issuing market in the territory of the Republic of Serbia considering the banks’ incentive to offer payment cards that yield the highest interchange fee revenues.

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information which could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in this proceedings are called upon to submit said to the Commission for Protection of Competition to the address 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The organizers of this year’s annual international conference hosted by ACE, Association of Competition Economics, have selected the case conducted by the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia concerning the edible sunflower oil production and sales market as a representative competition case to be presented to participants of this renowned event.

The conference gathering competition economists from around Europe will take place in Bologna (Italy), mid-November this year. The CPC case was selected among dozens of nominated antitrust cases. One of the selection criteria was that the case illustrates certain advances in the use of economics in competition enforcement or to be of particular interest to competition economists.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia sees the news on the selection of this competition case as additional acknowledgment for results achieved in advancing economic expertise during the last couple of years, reflecting on the quality of its decisions.

Since its creation in 2003, ACE’s main activity has been an annual conference bringing together competition economists. This year’s conference is expected to bring together numerous representatives of European competition authorities, reputable consulting companies and academia, working to exchange related experiences in assessing the effects of operational activities of competition authorities.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, has met today with Ambassador of Japan to Serbia, H.E. Junichi Maruyama. Dr. Obradović shared his ideas with H.E. Maruyama on the possible extension of excellent cooperation established between the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia and the Embassy, but also with the Japanese competition authority, JFTC.

Ambassador Maruyama also welcomed qualitative cooperation built with the Commission for Protection of Competition and intensified exchange of experiences achieved between the competition authorities of Japan and Serbia. In support of that, the interlocutors have recalled the previously organized two-day seminar held in Belgrade, where renowned Japanese experts spoke on the issue of current and future challenges of Japan in fighting cartels and bid rigging, in addition to the seminar held in Tokyo, attended this year also by a staff member of the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia.

H.E. Maruyama has informed President Obradović on antitrust cases which recently have been the focus of attention of the Japan Fair Trade Commission, as well as on anticipated case-related effects affecting the improvement of competition policy in Japan.

President of the Commission for Protection of Competition Dr. Miloje Obradović has met with Minister of State Administration and Local-Self Government of the Republic of Serbia Branko Ružić.

The main meeting topics related to the possibilities of enhancing cooperation aimed to underpin the quality of operations of public administration in the Republic of Serbia, enabling further improvements to the business environment, level playing field for all undertakings, economic stability of Serbia and a rise in the standard of living of citizens.

Dr. Obradović has also presented the Commission’s operations to date and future plans to Minister Ružić on the occasion, particularly those concerning the improvement of the legislative framework governing competition policy, implemented foremost in light of improving business conditions for all business entities in the Republic of Serbia.

A meeting between authorized CPC representatives and members of the Independent Association of Farmers of Serbia took place today in the Commission for Protection of Competition.

Representatives of the Independent Association of Farmers of Serbia have presented their views on the relation of oil producers towards sunflower farmers. With regard to the issues presented, IAF representatives have been informed that the Commission, in cooperation with other state institutions, will act in accordance with competences entrusted to it by the Law on Protection of Competition.

The Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted four new in-depth antitrust investigation proceedings against ten undertakings operating on the baby care products market, based on reasonable doubt that the parties have concluded restrictive agreements in order to fix prices of baby care products in further sale (such as pacifiers and dummies, soothers and teethers, baby bottles, milk pumps, baby cosmetics, textile, etc.).

The ex officio proceedings instituted to establish the infringement of competition concern the following companies: Yuglob doo Beograd, Keprom doo Beograd, Aksa doo Beograd, „K-Pharma“ HI Pharmacy from Beograde and HI Pharmacy Kraljevo, as well as pharmaceutical wholesalers, companies Farmalogist doo Beograd, Vega doo Valjevo, Lekovit doo Šabac, Medicom doo Šabac and NS Pharm doo Novi Sad.

Note that already in April 2018, the Commission for Protection of Competition has instituted two in-depth investigation proceedings in order to establish potential infringements of competition on the baby care products market.

The Commission for Protection of Competition believes that the baby care products market is of utmost importance for consumers, as well as for the society as a whole, and uses this opportunity to remind the public that in addition to the mentioned investigation proceedings, the Commission is conducting a sector inquiry into the entire baby equipment market, the results of which will be presented to the general public.

All persons in possession of data, documents or other relevant information which could contribute to the accurate fact-finding in the proceedings are called upon to submit said to the Commission for Protection of Competition to the address 25/IV Savska St., Belgrade.

The Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia has designated a representative this year as well, to attend a two-week seminar on effective implementation of competition policy, traditionally organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency – JICA and the Japan Fair Trade Commission – JFTC.

Senior Advisor at the CPC Economic Analyses Division, Aleksandra Ravić, was one of other eight representatives of competition authorities from around the world who were selected from among numerous candidates to attend this prestigious international seminar. This seminar provided participants with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with competition policy implementation practices in Japan, presented with an overall aim of achieving insights into increasingly effective implementation of competition law, strengthening institutional capacities and raising the level of awareness on the role and importance of competition policy in the participants’ countries.

Since its establishment in 2006, the Commission has participated in this competition policy professional training program.

The CPC’s participation at the Tokyo seminar marks the continuation of successful cooperation established between the Serbian Commission and the Japan Fair Trade Commission, which was also reinforced by this year’s successfully organized two-day seminar in Belgrade, where Professor Arisa Wakabayashi from Komazawa University, Tokyo, spoke on the current and future challenges of Japan in fighting cartels and bid rigging practices, as well as Hideyuki Shimozu, Senior Planning Officer from the International Affairs Division of JFTC, who spoke on the legislative framework and competition policy enforcement practices of Japan.

Renowned publisher Springer has published eProceedings from the international conference “Institution Building of the National Competition Authorities in South-East Europe” held in Belgrade in June 2016, organized by the Commission for Protection of Competition in cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

This highly successful conference was opened by President of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Dr. Miloje Obradović, EBRD Director for Serbia, Daniel Berg, and Head of the Negotiating Team for Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the EU, Tanja Miščević, while SEE region participants were able to exchange valuable experiences and views during the conference.

The proceedings contain contributions and papers prepared by employees of the Commission for Protection of Competition, as well as international and national competition policy experts.

The proceedings are published as a part of the Springer’s Contributions to Economics book series, which provides an outlet for innovative research in all areas of economics, published in print and ebook volumes and disseminated and promoted globally.

eProceedings can be downloaded from the following link:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-76644-7

The preparatory meeting, held in the premises of the Commission for Protection of Competition, marked the initiation of the two-year project entitled “Capacity Building for the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition”, supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

The main objective of the project is to improve the operational capacity of the Commission, primarily focused on drafting guidelines, updating the competition glossary for standardization of competition law terminology, organizing training programs on issues relating to the interface of numerous sectoral regulations and competition policy framework, organizing study visits to other highly developed European competition authorities, and purchasing new econometrics software and providing associated training for the Commission’s economists.

Preparation of draft guidelines for self-assessment of restrictive agreements, as well as for assessment of horizontal concentrations will further enrich the competition policy framework by providing a clear guidance to undertakings about the CPC’s approach in these two key areas. One of the important project outputs will be the preparation of a glossary, which will contribute to the common understanding of specific technical competition terminology that is currently either not translated in Serbian or not used in a standardized way. Also, each training program delivered within the project will focus on the discussion of specific cases that deal with the interface of competition law and sector regulation. The cases discussed will be important cases from selected EU countries.

This meeting also served as a platform to arrange an indicative project schedule and related dynamics, as well as all aspects of project implementation.

On behalf of an international consortium managing the project, as a successful tenderer selected by EBRD, the meeting was attended by Professor Yannis Katsoulacos, project manager, and Professor Boris Begović, national project manager. The Commission was represented by all division heads, in addition to the CPC Administrative and Professional Service representatives who will be in charge of specific activities.

The consulting team selected by EBRD for the implementation of this project comprises of renowned national and foreign experts such as Professor Joseph Harrington – USA, Professor Christos Genakos, Assistant Professor Vasiliki Bageri – Greece, Professor Russell Pittman – USA, as well as Assistant Professor Bojan Ristić, Professor Radmila Dragutinović-Mitrović and Professor Dušan Popović – Serbia.