On January 25, 2013, the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) opened an infringement proceeding against Associação Nacional de Farmácias (ANF), following a complaint submitted to the AdC by APIFARMA for an alleged decision of an association of companies consisting in issuing a Note to its members (pharmacies), suggesting them to negotiate payment deadlines to suppliers (pharmaceuticals and wholesalers).
Following the investigation, the AdC concluded that there was no evidence of such Note and if that would be the case, it would have an insignificant impact on the market as only a small number of pharmacies were to renegotiate payment terms and had in fact negotiated with each supplier different conditions on a case-by-case basis.
Therefore, on September 19, 2014, the AdC concluded the case with a filing decision.