OREANDA-NEWS. May 07, 2010. The Commission of the Chelyabinsk OFAS Russia found that "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. violated Part 3 Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" (which prohibits coordination of economic activities of market participants), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.          

According to the company market policy and development strategy for 2009, "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. considers itself one of the leaders of the market of stitch materials; its share of the relevant market exceeds 65%.

"Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. distributes medical equipment and medical products, including stitch materials, through a network of companies, with which "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. has an appropriate contract.

Economic entities wishing to obtain the status of an official distributor must pass the procedure of legal audit of the counteragents of "Johnson & Johnson" to verify their contractual capacity, tax risks and business reputation on the market.

In 2009 "Medtechnika" Regional State Unitary Enterprise repeatedly approached official company representatives for a commercial offer; however, after regional distributors discussed its application with "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd., it was rejected.

"Medtechnika" Regional State Unitary Enterprise was rejected on the grounds of not fitting the marketing policy and development strategy of "Johnson & Johnson" in 2009. At the same time "Johnson & Johnson" did not set any criteria enabling assessment of fit/ non-fit of an economic entity to the company's marketing strategy.

When "Medtechnika" Regional State Unitary Enterprise approached "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. directly, it was instructed to deal with either regional representatives of "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. operating mainly in Chelyabinsk or the Chelyabinsk region, or their business partners operating in other regions. As a result, "Medtechnika" Regional State Unitary Enterprise must have been again put efforts to be granted the right to receive a commercial offer from an official distributor of "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd.

The Chelyabinsk OFAS Russia concluded that actions of "Johnson & Johnson" Ltd. violated Part 3 Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition" and issued a determination to stop the violation.

Reference:
Part 3 Article 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition "prohibits coordination of economic activity of market participants by physical persons, commercial organizations and non-commercial organizations if such coordination leads or can lead to restriction of competition.