Distribution Agreements In Argentina: Basic Regulations No Distributor May Risk To Ignore

Until the new Civil and Commercial Code of the Nation (Código Civil y Comercial de la Nación or CCCN) became in force on August 1, 2015, distribution agreements had not had statutory regulation in Argentina.

The CCCN has set forth that the concession contract´s provisions will also govern the distribution agreement as far as those provisions are relevant to the distribution contract (CCCN, Article Number 1,511, Sub-article b)). Therefore, the following provisions will apply to the distribution agreements in Argentina:

1. Exclusivity: Unless otherwise agreed upon, exclusivity applies to both parties within the assigned territory. Therefore, the grantor of the distribution may not appoint another distributor, nor may the distributor, directly or indirectly, sell the goods beyond the territory or perform competitive activities (CCCN, Article Number 1,503, Sub-article a)). Notwithstanding the above explained, the grantor may reserve for itself certain direct or special