Investigation
Competition Commission prohibits exchange of
information between importers and suppliers of luxury
cosmetics
On October 31, 2011, the Competition Commission
prohibited several undertakings active in the luxury cosmetics
sector from exchanging information on prices, turnovers,
advertising expenses and sales terms1. The Competition
Commission held that the information exchange between the
undertakings involved (all of which were members of the Geneva
based Association of Manufacturers, Importers and Suppliers of
Cosmetic and Perfumery Products ("ASCOPA")) infringed the
Competition Act, because the exchanged information allowed the
participants to adjust their market behaviour to one another.
However, the Competition Commission considered that the information
exchange could not be regarded as a hard-core cartel within the
meaning of the Competition Act and, therefore, did not impose a
sanction on the undertakings involved. The decision also
