The National Government, by virtue of Decree 507 of 2020 and in accordance with Decree 462 of 2020 , recently called on the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce – SIC to exercise its inspection, surveillance and control functions by implementing programs monitoring and market enforcement , in order to avoid hoarding or inefficient distribution of vital products to address the health emergency caused by COVID-19.
In this sense, the SIC , in accordance with the guidelines established by the National Government, formulated a statement of charges through Resolution No. 25183 of 2020 – “</ span> Opening Resolution “to the company FARMALATAM COLOMBIA SAS -” Farmalatam ”for the purposes of determining whether the company violated the free competition regime in Colombia, specifically Article 1 of Law 155 of 1959 (general prohibition), for allegedly having set unfair prices on products corresponding to antibacterial gels, one of the twenty-six (26) essential products monitored by the Administrative Department of National Statistics – “ DANE ” and reported weekly to the SIC < / strong> in the framework of COVID-19.
The above, after KOBA Colombia S.A.S. file the corresponding complaint with the SIC and this will find merits for considering that the increase in retail prices evidenced in the sale of these products through the online drugstore Farmalisto , also owned by the investigated company, could be due to a single intention of “ to obtain greater benefits from its commercial activity to the detriment of consumers ”.
The relevant facts that were received by the SIC to give rise to the opening of the investigation correspond to: (i) a profit margin from the sale of these products of between five hundred percent (500%) and one thousand percent (1,000%); (ii) the alleged unjustified increases correspond to products that were put on sale immediately, the first cases of COVID-19 in the country were confirmed.
In investigations of this nature, the SIC can impose up to one hundred thousand current legal monthly minimum wages (100,000 SMMLV) for legal entities . It is worth mentioning that in this opening no charges were charged against individuals related to the company Farmalatam .
Therefore, Farmalatam now has a term of twenty (20) business days from the notification of the Opening Resolution to present evidence, render discharges , offer guarantees or raid.
Click here to see the Opening Resolution complete.