156 / 522
Selective Distribution Systems within the scope of Communiqué
No. 2002/2
As it is regulated in Art. 4 of Communiqué No. 2002/2, vertical
agreements that include limitations and have the intent to hinder com-
petition, directly or indirectly, may not benefit from the exemption.
Those that are regulated under Art. 4, and which may not benefit from
the block exemption, are related to selective distribution agreements.
These are as follows: (i) restriction of active or passive sales to end
users, to be performed by the system members operating at the retail
level, provided that the right is reserved for prohibiting a system mem-
ber from operating in a place where it is not authorized, (ii) prevention
of purchase and sale between the system members themselves in the
selective distribution system.
In light of the foregoing, even if the supplier creates exclusive
regions in order to supply goods to a limited number of purchasers,
active and passive sales to be performed by purchasers to the end users
outside of the region cannot be prevented. Additionally, enterprises that
adopt a selective distribution system cannot impose exclusive purchase
obligations to the system member buyers. In other words, the system
members cannot be prevented from purchasing products from other
member undertakings.
Accordingly, selective distribution agreements that do not include
restrictions listed under Art. 4 of Communiqué No. 2002/2 benefit
from the block exemption, without considering the quality of the goods
and services and the selection criteria.
Selective Distribution Systems within the scope of Communiqué
No. 2005/4
Pursuant to Art. 3/f of Communiqué No. 2005/4, a selective distri-
bution system means a distribution system where the provider under-
takes to sell the goods or services that are the subject of the agreement
only to the distributors or authorized services, directly or indirectly,
and where these distributors or authorized services undertaking not
to sell the said goods and services to unauthorized distributors and
services.
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NEWSLETTER 2015