The AdC sanctioned Farmodiética – Cosmética, Dietética e Produtos Farmacêuticos, S.A. for fixing the resale prices of its products in Portugal.
The practice occurred from October 5, 2015 until January 21, 2022. During this period, the company fixed the resale prices charged by its independent distributors to Farmodiética’s products both through direct and indirect means, implementing a monitoring system and creating incentives for the implementation of such fixed prices.
Such behavior, better known as RPM - “Resale Price Maintenance” -, is liable to be qualified as a serious infringement of competition, with its legal framework in Article 9 (1) of Law no. 19/2012 (Portuguese Competition Act) and Article 101 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Farmodiética is a relevant wholesale distributor of food supplements and healthy foods, which are sold both online and in brick and mortar stores.
The case was concluded with the collaboration of the company, which entered in settlement proceedings during the course of the investigation, accepting its responsibility for the infringement at issue and waiving the judicial review of the facts.