The Romanian Competition Council has launched an investigation into potential anti-competitive agreements in the sports merchandise market, during which unannounced inspections were conducted in Romania and the Netherlands at the headquarters of Nike European Operations Netherlands BV (supplier of Nike products), Sport Time Trade SRL, and Sport Vision Trading SRL, the institution announced on Tuesday.
According to the press release, the competition authority has indications that the supplier of Nike -branded products may have reached an agreement with Sport Time Trade SRL, the distributor of these products, by intervening in its commercial policy and limiting the customers to whom the distributor could sell sports merchandise.
“In such circumstances, each distributor must independently decide its commercial strategy, as the supplier is not legally entitled to impose customers,” the statement noted.
The inspection at the headquarters of Nike European Operations Netherlands BV was carried out with the support of the Dutch authority, in accordance with the provisions of the Netherlands’ national competition legislation.
“Unannounced inspections are authorized by the Bucharest Court of Appeal and are justified by the need to obtain all information and documents necessary to clarify the potential anti-competitive practices under investigation. These inspections represent an important step in the procedures for investigating possible anti-competitive behavior, but they do not imply a prior determination of the companies’ guilt,” the release stated.