AgroPages-Portugal drops Bayer case-Agricultural news

Portuguese trade authorities conditionally dropped charges in October against Bayer CropScience for anti-competitive practices. Portuguese agrochemical company Sapec Agro (Lisbon) had complained that Bayer had added anti-competitive clauses to contracts with its distributors. The competition authority, the AdC, found that Bayers contracts contained a clause that was contrary to national legislation on competition. The AdC required Bayer to: withdraw the offending clause; inform its distributors of its withdrawal; and send it a copy of the new contracts. It has "archived" the case.

The clause in the contracts meant that distributors were neither able to promote, market, store nor supply any product that was in direct competition with some of Bayers products, the authority explained. The distributors were to receive a stipulated bonus as compensation. The contracts would be valid for a year and automatically renewed for a similar period for up to five years. Bayer has not responded to requests for comment.