Belgian Competition Authority Adopts Draft Decision Against Professional Organisation of Pharmacists

• 09/11/2018
• Articles

The College of Prosecutors of the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) announced on 8 November 2018 that it has submitted a draft infringement decision to the Competition College with the request to review the Prosecutors’ findings and take a final decision against the professional organisation of pharmacists known as “Orde der Apothekers”/”Ordre des pharmaciens” (the “PO”).
 
The PO is tasked by law with organising the profession of pharmacists and maintaining the ethical standards of that profession. Pharmacists are also subject to a number of public service obligations.
 
However, PO now finds itself in the crosshairs of the competition authority because of its attempts to shield its members from the market inroads made by new retailers that combine the sale of medicines with that of other, less regulated health products, cosmetics, nutrition products and the like. One such new market player is the Medi-Market Group which allegedly fell victim to exclusionary practices of PO and was supposedly also obliged to observe minimum prices for the sale of medicines. While the prices of medicines are regulated at every level of the supply chain, price competition by applying discounts is still possible.
 
Back in June 2017, the President of the BCA rejected for procedural reasons a request for interim measures against PO. However, while PO narrowly avoided a measure restraining its market practices, the 2017 decision made it already clear that the conduct of PO would not remain unchecked and would ultimately give rise to an infringement decision. The draft decision of the College of Prosecutors is only a provisional step in the proceedings, but would seem to confirm that such an outcome is likely.
 
More broadly, the procedure against PO is evidence of the BCA’s approach to subject the entire pharmaceutical sector to competition scrutiny. For example, in another pending procedure, the BCA is targeting pharmaceutical distributors.