French Competition Authority Levies Fines Against Wholesalers of Veterinary Medicines
- 30/07/2018
- Articles
On 26 July 2018, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) adopted aggregate fines of EUR 16 million to penalise a range of distributors of veterinary medicines and their professional association. The decision took the form of a settlement as the targeted firms did not challenge the facts while all benefitted from a reduction of the fine.
The firms at issue had signed “non-aggression pacts” that served as a basis for customer allocations. Additionally, they capitalised on a national health crisis involving an outbreak of bluetongue disease among livestock. The outbreak resulted in three mandatory vaccination campaigns. In response, the distributors, led by their industry association, agreed on inflated costs which they would recover from the authorities for their role in the campaign. They also colluded on the prices which they would charge to veterinarians.
The FCA labelled the infringements of the competition laws, including Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, as serious, especially to the extent that the parties took advantage of a health crisis and consciously benefitted from the absence of public procurement procedures to defraud the public purse. The FCA also stressed the pernicious role played by the industry association.
