Arrangements about quality of a product

Swiss antitrust law is designed to promote competition in the economy and to limit the market power of companies in order to ensure consumer protection and equal opportunities. Price agreements are one of the most significant violations of antitrust law in Switzerland, as they hinder fair competition and unnecessarily increase prices for consumers.

Price agreements that fall under Swiss antitrust law can take the following forms:

Horizontal price agreements: These are agreements between competitors at the same stage of the value chain in which they agree on prices, discounts or other terms of trade with each other.

Vertical price agreements: These are agreements between companies at different levels of the value chain, such as between manufacturers and distributors, which influence the price at which a product is sold to the end consumer.

Price abuse: This refers to situations where a dominant company charges excessive prices that hinder competition.

The WEKO has the power to conduct investigations and searches to identify breaches of antitrust law. Companies are required by law to cooperate with the Competition Commission and provide all relevant information.

While price agreements have been extensively dealt with in doctrine and case law, agreements on the quality of a thing are a different story. In 2018, allegations arose that leading German car manufacturers had colluded on the size of the AdBlue tanks installed.

Companies are generally allowed to exchange and share information on the quality of a thing as long as this does not lead to competition being restricted in an impermissible way. If the exchange of information leads to competitors fixing prices or restricting market access, this may be considered an impermissible practice under antitrust law.