Swiss Competition Report - Reporting Period: January 05 - March 05

This section reviews developments concerning the Federal Act of October 6, 1995 on Cartels and Other Restraints of Competition (the "Competition Act"), which is enforced by the Federal Competition Commission ("FCC"). Appeals against decisions of the FCC are heard by the Appeal Commission for Competition Matters (the "Appeal Commission").

By a decision dated March 21 2005, the FCC prohibited a framework distribution agreement between booksellers and publishers, which imposed the resale price of books to final customers in Switzerland. In 1999 the FCC had already stated that the agreement amounted to an unlawful restriction of competition and the Swiss association of publishers and booksellers appealed the decision. By decision dated August 14 2002, the Supreme Court admitted the appeal in part and sent the case back to the FCC for it to examine whether the unlawful restriction could be justified on grounds