The main objective of the Law on Trade Practices for Certain Types of Products is to ensure fair, transparent, and predictable business relationships within the supply chain of agricultural and food products, as well as products of strategic importance to market supply, through the prevention, detection, and sanctioning of unfair trade practices.

This Law shall apply directly to relationships between suppliers and buyers engaged in trade within the territory of the Republic of Serbia, namely:
1) agricultural and food products;
2) products of particular importance for market supply — for consumer supply, including household chemical products, paper and kitchen goods, personal hygiene and cosmetic products, and diapers; and for agricultural production, including plant nutrition and protection products, as well as soil improvers.

This Law shall apply directly to commercial relations between professional suppliers and buyers within the territory of the Republic of Serbia, with a clearly defined subject-matter scope. By its nature, this Law shall not apply to consumer relations (B2C), but shall be exclusively directed at regulating business-to-business (B2B) relations between professional undertakings.

In such context, the term “supplier” shall refer to any agricultural producer, whether a natural or legal person, including their organisations or associations, who sells agricultural and food products, as well as any producer, importer, or distributor of products of particular importance for market supply.

On the other hand, the term ‘buyer’ shall refer to any legal entity or entrepreneur that, in the course of its business activities, purchases such products for further sale, processing, or distribution.

Unfair Trade Practices

Unfair trade practices shall imply practices which, due to a pronounced imbalance in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers, shall arise from the unilateral imposition of terms and conduct, whereby:
1) deviating from good business practices, contrary to the principle of good faith and fair dealing;
2) unjustifiably and disproportionately shifting economic risk from one trading partner to another;
3) creating a significant imbalance of rights and obligations to the detriment of one trading partner;
4) giving rise to other disproportionate conduct between suppliers and buyers.

A buyer, unless proven otherwise, shall be deemed to have significant bargaining power if:
1) the supplier’s total annual revenue does not exceed EUR 2,000,000, whereas the buyer’s annual revenue exceeds EUR 2,000,000;
2) the supplier’s total annual revenue ranges between EUR 2,000,000 and EUR 10,000,000, whereas the buyer’s annual revenue exceeds EUR 10,000,000;
3) the supplier’s total annual revenue exceeds EUR 10,000,000 but does not exceed EUR 50,000,000, whereas the buyer’s annual revenue exceeds EUR 50,000,000;
4) the supplier’s total annual revenue ranges between EUR 50,000,000 and EUR 150,000,000, whereas the buyer’s annual revenue exceeds EUR 150,000,000;
5) the supplier’s annual revenue ranges between EUR 150,000,000 and EUR 350,000,000, whereas the buyer’s annual revenue exceeds EUR 350,000,000;

A buyer shall also be deemed to have significant bargaining power in other situations where the supplier demonstrates the existence of such power.
Amounts expressed in euros under this Law shall be converted into dinars at the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia applicable on the date of calculation of the annual revenue.

For the purposes of this Law, annual revenue shall be determined as the total annual revenue before taxation and shall include operating, financial, and other income in the financial year preceding the year in which the proceedings are initiated, generated within the Republic of Serbia, whereby revenue generated by related market participants in mutual transactions shall not be taken into account.

The total annual revenue for forms of association of undertakings shall be determined on the basis of the aggregate sum of the total annual revenues of the associated participants.

If, due to the nature of the activity performed by an undertaking, or where revenue is generated from multiple different activities that are not mutually complementary, it is not possible to determine the revenue, or where the data on the basis of which it is determined are incomplete or unreliable, the Commission for Protection of Competition (hereinafter referred to as: the Commission) shall determine such revenue on the basis of available data and/or other data and information that it deems relevant and appropriate in the specific proceedings.

An unfair trade practice may occur prior to, during, or after the completion of the sale of a given product, irrespective of whether a written contract exists.
The Commission shall, by guidelines, further define significant bargaining power.