Resale Price Maintenance – Following The Effect

By publishing its reasoned decision¹ on the preliminary inquiry against Duru Bulgur Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş. ("DURU"), the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") has added a new one to its decisions which include effect analysis of resale price maintenance ("RPM") practices. Although, Article 4(1)(a) of Block Exemption Communiqué No. 2002/2 on Vertical Agreements provides that RPM practices would not benefit from block exemption and the TCA used to evaluate RPM as a per se violation, in its recent decisions, the TCA subjects RPM practices to a rule of reason analysis and assesses the effects of such practices. In these decisions², the TCA has analysed the effects of RPM by considering several factors such as market structure, competition level and effect on consumers.