Production and marketing of cosmetic products, in general, personal and baby care products, "parapharmaceuticals" and other related products that are distributed through pharmacies, e-shops, para‐pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers.

Decision on the ex officio investigation conducted by the Directorate-General for Competition and the examination of the complaint lodged by the company INTERMED S.A. against the company FREZYDERM S.A, for alleged infringements of Articles 1 and 2 of Law 3959/2011 and 101 and 102 TFEU, in the relevant market for the production and marketing of cosmetic products, personal and baby care products, "parapharmaceuticals" and other related products, following the Statement of Objections by the Commissioner-Rapporteur I. Stefatos.

Articles 1-2, 25C  L. 3959/2011, 101 and 102 TFEU

Operative part of the Decision

The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC), in plenary sitting, decided, by majority and open vote, as follows: 

Accepts by majority, pursuant to Article 25C of Law 3959/2011, the commitments proposed by FREZYDERM regarding its contractual terms agreed upon with its authorised distributors in Greece and abroad. The above commitments are made binding on this undertaking (Article 25C of Law 3959/2011).

Α2. Sets a time-limit of three (3) months, from the date of notification of this Decision, for the Undertaking to implement the commitments entered into thereby.

Α3. Stipulates that, within a period of thirty (30) days, from the notification of this Decision, the Undertaking shall inform the Commission, in writing, about the measures it has adopted or will adopt to implement the commitments made and, furthermore, that at the end of the aforementioned time-period referred to herein, the Undertaking shall present to the Competition Commission its new, amended model contracts.

Α4. Stipulates that, for the period of time falling between the date of notification of this decision, on the one hand, and the expiry of the time limits set out in points 2. and 3. above, on the other, the Undertaking shall refrain from any action that may compromise or undermine the implementation of commitments entered into thereby.

Α5. These commitments will remain in effect for a period of five (5) years from the date of notification of this Decision as led down in its grounds and/or in the text of the commitments.

Α6. In the event of failure to comply non-compliance with the above commitments, the HCC may impose the fines provided for by Article 25 (1) of L. 3959/2011.

Β. In respect of the complaint lodged by “INTERMED S.A.” against FREZYDERM S.A. for alleged infringement of Articles 1 and 2 of L. 3959/2011 and 101 and 102 TFEU, it is unanimously rejected as unfounded, on the grounds set out above.

1. FREZYDERM S.A.

By its Decision no 778/2022, adopted by majority in plenary sitting, and in accordance with Article 25C of Law 3959/2011, the HCC, accepted the commitments proposed by FREZYDERM and made them binding, to address competition concerns (Articles 1 L. 3959/2011 and 101 TFEU) raised in the preliminary assessment in relation to specific contractual terms of FREZYDERM in the relevant market for the production and distribution of cosmetic products, in general, personal and baby care products, "parapharmaceuticals", and other related products distributed through pharmacies, e-shops, para-pharmacies, and pharmaceutical wholesalers. According to its preliminary assessment, the HCC considered that these contractual terms could result in, and intensify the partitioning of national markets as well as reduce intra-brand competition by restricting, through the prevention of cross-selling, the possibility of any arbitrage between the members of the selective network with regard to the selling prices of the products by the company complained of, namely FREZYDERM S.A, in breach of Article 1 (1) of Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU.

In view of the above, FREZYDERM, although it does not admit having committed any breach of competition rules, offered commitments to address the HCC’s competition concerns in the most effective way. By these commitments, the company mainly aims at removing and/or modifying contractual terms included in contracts with its distributors, both in Greece and abroad, which are considered as an infringement, according to the Statement of Objections, and at taking specific actions pertaining to the development and implementation of a competition compliance programme for its executive staff.

Furthermore, according to the Decision, the complaint lodged by "INTERMED S.A." against "FREZYDERM S.A.", concerning an infringement of Articles 1 and 2 of Law 3959/2011 and Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, is unanimously rejected as unfounded on the grounds set out in detail, as no restrictive practice by object is found against the company complained of through specific promotional activities targeted at pharmacies, in terms of resale price maintenance and concerted price-fixing among distributors, in violation of Article 1 (1) of Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU. Moreover, no dominant position is found to be held by the company complained of in the relevant market concerned and, therefore, the examination of any abusive behavior is irrelevant.