Two-minute Recap of Recent Developments in Turkish Competition Law - February 2024

Interim measures against Meta

Meta is currently under investigation for possible anti-competitive conduct through tying Instagram with Threads.

In relation to this on-going investigation, the Board announced that it had taken interim measures to stop Meta from combining the data obtained from Instagram and Threads.

Significant fines imposed on Nestle

On 21 February 2024, the Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) announced the conclusion of its full-fledged investigation into Nestle’s RPM, region and customer restrictions. As a result, the Board imposed an administrative fine of approximately EUR 10.4 million on Nestle.

Another note-worthy development is that the Board rejected Nestle's application to submit commitments.

At the time of writing, the Board's reasoning on this front is not clear as this is not mentioned within the announcement and this is solely known due to the oral hearing conducted.

A full-fledged investigation into RPM practices in the detergent sector

On 8 February 2024, the Board announced that it had concluded its preliminary investigation against ABC Detergent and initiated a full-fledged investigation to determine whether the company engaged in RPM.

The settlement mechanism stays fashionable

On 5 February 2024, the Board announced the conclusion of its full-fledged investigation against Neolife.

The Board decided that Neolife infringed Turkish competition law through RPM practices. No violation was found for internet sales restrictions.

As a result of the settlement procedure, Neolife was fined for approximately EUR 6,000, while reaping a 20% (maximum is 25%) reduction from the fine due to settlement.

Full-fledged investigation initiated in the medical device sector

On 2 February 2024, the Board announced the conclusion of its preliminary investigation into Bıçakçılar, Gazi Kimya and Rectus Medikal operating in the medical device sector.

Accordingly, the Board determined that the information and documents obtained during the preliminary investigation process were sufficient to initiate an investigation.

Automotive sector preliminary investigation concluded without fines

The Board closed the preliminary investigation against the commercial vehicle industry, stating that the documents obtained during the preliminary investigation did not prove a violation.

The Board noted that it is not against the law for sector players to learn the prices of their competitors through customers to position themselves competitively.