New Legal Regime on Individual Restrictive Trade Practices

On the 27th November 2013, Decree-Law no. 166/2013, adopting the new legal regime applicable to individual restrictive trade practices was published in the Official Journal. Among the changes introduced by the new Act, the following stand out as most significant: clarification of the sale at a loss and of the refusal to sell goods or to provide services regimes; the densification of the concept of abusive commercial practices; the strengthening the sanctions framework; the transfer of the competence for investigation from the Competition Authority to the Authority for Economic and Food Safety and the institutionalization of self-regulation. The Act enters into force sixty days after publication.