The Board's Assessment On Online Sales Bans: Strengthened Position Concerning Guidelines On Vertical Restraints

Turkish Competition Board (the "Board") announced its decision on the preliminary investigation into Jotun Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. ("Jotun") pursuant to Article 4 of Law No: 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Law").

A distributor alleged that Jotun; a company that produces, sells and markets paint and other coatings for indoor and outdoor surfaces had:

1. maintained resale prices for its distributors,
2. not provided products directly to the market,
3. restricted sales made by its distributors to end users,
4. distributed some works between its distributors,
5. discriminated between its distributors,
6. restricted passive sales by forbidding sales through internet

The Board ruled that their findings would not amount to a violation and decided not to proceed with a full investigation. However, the Board noted that restrictions on online sales were restrictions on passive sales and accordingly issued a written opinion that Jotun;