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The association that groups together firms such as Agrosuper, CMPC, CCU and Carozzi sued the matrix of the Líder supermarkets before the Free Competition Defense Court. He asks to be fined more than $ 9 billion.
A new dispute broke out between the Association of Suppliers Industry (AGIP) and Walmart, the US giant that operates the Lider, Ekono and Acuenta supermarkets in Chile. The union that groups together large firms – such as Agrosuper, Softys, CCU, Carozzi, Coca-Cola Andina, Ideal, Nestlé, Soprole, Pepsico and P&G, among others – sued the supermarket for abuse of a dominant position.
“Walmart, both by itself and through its related parties, has abused its dominant position in the supermarket supply market, by imposing on its suppliers the contracting of certain services and also establishing arbitrary values associated with them” says the lawsuit signed by the historic president of the AGIP, Vasco Costa.
In its legal action, the union asks for a fine of 15 thousand Annual Tax Units against Walmart, that is, just over $ 9 billion and that an external arbitration body be imposed on the company, at its cost, whose members are appointed by a mechanism that involves the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office and the Santiago Chamber of Commerce, which resolves in a single instance and within a period of no more than 30 days the disputes that are presented by suppliers.
On the merits of the lawsuit, the AGIP asked the Competition Court to establish that suppliers must always have the option of choosing between their own replacement service and that of the supermarket.
In the event that the supplier chooses to replace the supermarket, the association requested that the service have compliance parameters, with Walmart having to deliver monthly reports to each supplier; that a readjustment polynomial be established for each provider that avoids – he says – the exercise of market power, and that an “expeditious” mechanism be incorporated to terminate said service if the provider deems it appropriate.
In the event that the TDLC decides that Walmart has its legitimate right to impose the internal replacement of the products it acquires, the AGIP requested that it be declared that this corresponds to an activity of the supermarket, for which, it requested, that the supermarket assume the corresponding cost.
The other point that the union claimed is related to centralization. In this case, the union asked the TDLC to declare that the supplier can choose between direct dispatch to Walmart rooms or to its distribution center.
According to the lawsuit, in the event that the supplier chooses to send goods to the supermarket distribution center, the union asked the court that the charge be associated with elements of logistics, that is, weight and volume of products transported and not at its price, as denounced, would the American.
Regarding this complaint, the union also asked Walmart to deliver monthly reports to each supplier, as well as a polynomial for rate readjustment and an expedited mechanism to end said service.
In the event that the TDLC declares that Walmart has its legitimate right to impose the centralization of the products it acquires, the AGIP required the TDLC to declare that this corresponds to an activity that is typical of the supermarket, for which Walmart -assured- must bear the corresponding cost.
The AGIP demand occurs at a time when large suppliers seek to deepen their own logistics chains. There are even firms such as Coca-Cola and CCU that offer home delivery to their customers who buy from their web pages.
Executives from the supermarket industry, who ask for reservations, affirm that, for suppliers, the centralization carried out by Walmart (with the inauguration of its large distribution center El Peñón in San Bernardo) is a bad business for them, since They have an entire network set up nationwide, in which they deliver products to supermarkets in the same truck, but also to other distributors, such as neighborhood stores.
“Relations must be governed by principles of free competition”
Walmart Chile reacted to the demand, noting that it has not yet been notified, but stressed that -in its opinion- “we have always been concerned about creating a virtuous and long-term relationship with all our suppliers, since they are a key part of our supply chain”. The company added that “we believe that relations with our suppliers should be governed by the principles of respect for free competition, for which we work to establish transparent objectives, terms and conditions known in advance by both parties.”
Regarding the El Peñón distribution complex, the firm explained that it is “the Logistics Center that makes it possible for large and small suppliers to distribute their products in our supermarkets”, highlighting that it allows them to promote omnichannel.
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