OREANDA-NEWS. March 09, 2011. Moscow Arbitration Court dismissed the claim of St Petersburg Veterinary Department in full and upheld the decision of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

On 19th August 2010, FAS Russia initiated a case against St Petersburg Veterinary Department upon the signs of violating Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”.

St Petersburg Veterinary Department included in its Administrative Regulations the norm that economic entities involved in veterinary activities must obtain a special permit for animal vaccination (animal epidemic countermeasures). To be able to register such permits, economic entities must also obtain the compliance-audit report confirming conditions for animal epidemic countermeasures, which are issued by veterinary stations for a fee.

Having investigated the case, the FAS Russia’s Commission established that the requirement to obtain the permit and related documentation, as well as some other requirements are not provided for by the current legislation.

On 9th September 2010, FAS Russia found that St Petersburg Veterinary Department violated Clause 2 Part 1 Article 15 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” by unreasonably preventing economic activities of market participants: fixing requirements to the goods or economic entities that are not provided for by the law of the Russian Federation. FAS issued a determination to eliminate the violations.

On 21st February 2011, Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed legitimacy and reasonableness of the decisions made by the Federal Antimonopoly Service.