• GREEN DOT - Antimonopoly Office of the SR decided !!!
  
• Submitted reports on the fulfilment of binding limits
• ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Certificate
• GREEN DOT - Proceeding of the Antimonopoly Office against ENVI-PAK, a.s.
• Slovak Environmental Inspection Agency in NATUR-PACK, a.s. - results of Inspection
• Free environmental consultancy
• Submitted reports on the fulfilment of binding limits
• GREEN DOT - decision of Office of competition and consumer protection in Poland
• GREEN DOT - European Court judgement
• GREEN DOT - European Commission decisions
• Full summary of the obliged person’s obligations
• Electronic report filling
• Submitted reports on the fulfilment of binding targets
• DECLARATION

PRESS REPORT: (Bratislava 8.9.2009) Division of Abuse of a Dominant Position of the Antimonopoly Office of the SR imposed the fine in amount of € 18 394 on undertaking ENVI-PAK, a.s., (hereinafter only „ENVI-PAK“) for a breach of the Act on Protection of Competition as well as the Article 82 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community.

Based on undertakings’ complaints in the year 2008 the Office started the administrative proceedings in the matter of provision of trade mark “Green Dot” sublicences by the undertaking ENVI-PAK which was the only one entitled to provide trade mark sublicences in Slovakia. Within this proceedings the Office defined two relevant markets where the company ENVI-PAK acts. One is the market of granting approval to use trade mark “Green Dot” to third persons by means of individual licences. The company ENVI-PAK has a dominant position in this market and this dominant position is also abused. The other market is the market of provision of packaging waste collection, recovery and recycling by means of authorized organizations.  Impacts of the abuse of dominant position by the company ENVI-PAK appear in this market.

The Company ENVI-PAK abused its dominant position by setting the payment system for the trade mark “Green Dot”. The undertaking ENVI-PAK set the payment system for the trade mark “Green Dot” in such manner, that its service clients, it means clients using services of packaging waste collection, recovery and recycling, have the possibility to use “Green Dot” for free, but licence clients which are interested only in granting the approval to use the trade mark “Green Dot”, have to pay the fee for the licence itself and even for packages without „Green Dot“. Moreover, the amount of this fee is not determined with respect to related costs, but it is determined so that the final price which the undertaking asking for the licence to use the trade mark “Green Dot” should pay, was always higher than the price reached by the obligated person if he/she would be also the service client of the company ENVI-PAK. In consequence of payment system for the trade mark “Green Dot” set in this manner it is not economic for obligated persons to become client of authorized organization other than the company ENVI-PAK. Since an alternative does not exist, those licence interested are forced to accept conditions set by the company ENVI-PAK.

Company with dominant position can thwart business of its rivals by binding its clients „ de jure“ or „de facto“ to use its services and thus it prevents them from using services offered by rival suppliers. In this case ENVI-PAK uses its dominant position in the market of approval to use the trade mark “Green Dot” by means of individual licences so that in reality it forces, binds obligated persons using “Green Dot” to use also its services in the market of packaging waste collection, recovery and recycling.

During the administrative proceedings ENVI-PAK proposed obligations pursuant to the Article 8a of the Act which according to its opinion were sufficient to eliminate competition concerns identified by the Office. The Office refused proposed obligations while the obligation concerning the amount of the sublicence for the trade mark “Green Dot” does not sufficiently resolve the identified competition problem, so it was not in accord with all following Office’s expectations:

1.      Payment system for the trade mark “Green Dot” should be determined non- discriminatory so that it does not give advantage to ENVI-PAK’s service clients against other “Green Dot” sublicence applicants.

2.      Fee amount should reflect the range of using the trade mark “Green Dot” by particular undertakings on packages presented by them in the Slovak market and simultaneously 

3.      The price of sublicence for the trade mark “Green Dot” should be minimal in comparison with the service price and reflecting only essential costs connected with management of the trade mark „Green Dot“ in Slovakia.

This decision has not come into force yet and an appeal against it may be submitted within 15 days from delivery.

Soruce: Press report of Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak republic