Parallel import case unresolved
GlaxoSmithKline
has been told that its quota supply system in Greece does not contravene Greek competition law, but the question of whether it is allowed under EU law remains unresolved.
Since March 2001, GSK has been restricting sales of medicines to Greek
pharmacies and wholesalers to 125 per cent of what it believes is sufficient
for the nation’s needs to try to restrict parallel importing by
other EU countries from Greece. Three months before that, GSK refused
to supply products at all to certain pharmacies and wholesalers.
A complaint to the Hellenic Competition Commission (PDF 10K) ensued and
the commission referred the matter for judgment to the European Court
(PJ,
6 November
2004, p673 and 4 June 2005, p668). The court declined to rule because
it decided that it could not accept cases from the competition commission.
Now the competition commission has said that it will not punish GSK for
selectively refusing sales for three months. But it warned that the company
faces a possible fine of 3 per cent of its gross revenues if it does
it again.
It has also declined to approve the company’s current distribution
policy as being compatible with EU law because the European Commission
is in the process of deciding whether similar behaviour elsewhere in
Europe is anticompetitive.
Pat Treacy, a competition expert at UK law firm Bristows, said :“The
result in this particular proceeding is probably, on balance, more favourable
to pharmaceutical companies than to parallel traders.
“However, in the wider context it remains to be seen what its significance
will be. This issue will continue to trouble both parallel traders and
the pharmaceutical industry for some time to come.”
Medicine prices in Greece are controlled by the government and are among
the lowest in Europe. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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