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resell goods or services. Therefore, distribution contracts qualify as
vertical agreements within the meaning of Turkish competition laws
and the Article 4 prohibition may apply to distribution contracts, to the
extent it sets forth a restriction on competition as its object or effect.
Turkish competition laws introduced an exemption system where-
by restrictive agreements would not be caught by the Article 4 prohi-
bition, if and to the extent they fulfill the conditions of exemption. The
applicable statutory base of the relevant exemption regime is the Block
Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements No. 2002/2
(“Communiqué No. 2002/2”). The communiqué provides that the pro-
hibitions of Article 4 of the Competition Law will not apply to vertical
agreements, if and to the extent they fulfill the conditions of exemption
laid down in the communiqués. Article 5 of the Communiqué No.
2002/2 regulates the non-compete obligations in vertical agreements.
To be under the scope of the block exemption, non-compete obliga-
tions shall not be longer than five years. In general Turkish law follows
the route of EU regulation in that respect. On the other hand, a post-
contractual non-compete obligation is not admissible under the
Communiqué No. 2002/2. But, a non-compete obligation may be
imposed on the purchaser provided that it does not exceed one year as
of the expiry of the contract, with the conditions that the prohibition
relates to goods and services in competition with the goods or services
which are the subject of the contract, it is limited to the facility or the
area where the distributor operates during the contract, and it is com-
pulsory for protecting the know-how transferred by the supplier to the
distributor.
LAW OF OBLIGATIONS
297