President of Competition Council Orders De Beers to Continue Supplying to Spira
On 27 April 2012, the President of the Competition Council ordered diamond supplier De Beers to continue supplying rough diamonds to Spira, a Belgian diamond trader.
The obligation to supply Spira had previously been imposed on De Beers by the President of the Competition Council as a preliminary measure in November 2010, but on appeal the Brussels Court of Appeal had decided that this measure had to come to an end on 30 April 2012.
In January 2012, Spira filed a request with the Competition Council with a view to having the interim measure prolonged. On 17 April 2012, the College of Competition Prosecutors adopted its reasoned report which concluded that the imposition of preliminary measures would be justified given the threat of “serious, imminent and irreparable harm” (See, VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2012, No. 4, available at www.vbb.com). As the President of the Competition Council expects to adopt a final decision on Spira’s request for interim measures before 13 July 2012, he has decided to prolong the preliminary measure until that date.
President of Competition Council Orders Port Real Estate to Maintain Minimum Volume of Loading Out of Robusta Coffee Sold on NYSE LIFFE Exchange in London
On 22 May 2012, the President of the Competition Council ordered Port Real Estate, an operator of warehouses in the port of Antwerp, to load minimum quantities of Robusta coffee out of its warehouses and divide them equally among all its customers.
This decision follows a complaint by Armajaro Trading Limited, a trading company that buys and resells Robusta raw coffee beans on the NYSE LIFFE Exchange in London. Armajaro uses the services of among others Port Real Estate to store the coffee sold on that market. In its complaint to the Competition Council, Armajaro Trading Limited argued that Port Real Estate abused its dominant position by loading out the LIFFE certified coffee from its warehouses at a pace which is deliberately and unreasonably low. Armajaro had also lodged a request for interim measures aimed at suspending the alleged abuse of dominant position pending the investigation of the complaint on the merits, by imposing on Port Real Estate a minimal pace of loading out.
Following the President’s decision, Port Real Estate is obliged to load out every month at least an average of 500 tons per working day and to divide this amount equally among all customers which request Port Real Estate to load out of its warehouses LIFFE certified Robusta coffee.
