Press Release

Rabat, May 5, 2026 – The Competition Council has received a submission from a company operating in the cosmetics and perfumery market regarding alleged anticompetitive practices in the national market for the selective distribution of luxury perfumes and cosmetics.

This market is characterized by an organization structured around several categories of players operating at different levels of the value chain. It is based on a selective distribution model, where access to the retail sales network is subject to strict qualitative criteria, particularly in terms of commercial positioning, service quality, and compliance with the requirements of international suppliers of brands. In this context, the relationships between international brand suppliers and distributors are often governed by territorial exclusivity agreements, granting certain distributors exclusive distribution rights in the national market.

Furthermore, this market is distinguished by the coexistence of two organizational models. On the one hand, some suppliers operate without a direct presence in the retail sales market and rely on authorized retailers to market their products. On the other hand, some operators adopt an integrated model, combining import, distribution, and retail sales activities.

This market configuration, marked by a high degree of vertical integration and contractual dependence, promotes better control of the supply chain and commercial conditions. However, it may, in some cases, restrict market access for independent retailers and raise competitive concerns, particularly regarding discrimination, limited access to certain products, or standardization of competitive conditions.

The investigations conducted by the Competition Council’s investigative services have identified competition concerns whose scope exceeds the initial complaint to encompass the overall operation of the relevant market.

The competition concerns identified stem notably from:

• Risks of discrimination related to the application of differentiated commercial conditions among retailers, which may lead to ruptures in contractual relationships;
• Possible tied sales practices, linking the purchase of one product to another;
• Risks of market foreclosure or locking through the retention of strategic products or exclusion mechanisms within the selective distribution network;
• Potential exchanges of sensitive strategic information that could distort free competition;
• Monitoring or incentive mechanisms aimed at price homogeneity in public sales (recommended or imposed prices), resembling a possible “price policing”.

Following the Competition Council’s notification of the preliminary assessment of the concerns to the relevant market players, the Government Commissioner, and the notifying party, the said companies requested the benefit of the commitment procedure provided for in Article 36 of Law No. 104-12 on price freedom and competition, as amended and supplemented.

In this regard, it should be recalled that pursuant to Article 36 of the aforementioned Law No. 104-12, the Competition Council has the option to accept “commitments proposed by the companies or organizations concerned, when these commitments are likely to address its competition concerns that may constitute prohibited practices under Articles 6, 7, and 8 of this Law”.

The implementation modalities of this procedure are provided for in Article 26 of Decree No. 2-14-652 for the application of Law No. 104-12, as amended and supplemented.

In this context, the concerned companies voluntarily submitted proposals for commitments to the Competition Council, aiming to address the raised competition concerns and improve the competitive operation of the relevant market.

For this purpose, the General Rapporteur publishes the commitments proposed by the concerned companies to allow interested third parties to present their observations.

These commitments proposed by the concerned companies aim to enhance the competitive operation of the national market for the selective distribution of luxury perfumes and cosmetics by ensuring equal treatment and access for independent retailers to selective distribution networks, under transparent, objective, and non-discriminatory conditions.

CONSISTENCY OF THE PROPOSED COMMITMENTS:

As a remedy to the competition concerns raised by the investigative and inquiry services of the Competition Council, the companies have submitted commitment proposals relating to:

• The establishment of organizational separation between wholesale distribution activities and retail sales, accompanied by strict measures regulating access to sensitive commercial information, supported by the implementation of confidentiality agreements;
• The formalization of transparent and objective standard contracts, specifying access conditions, retailer admission conditions to the network, and account opening procedures;
• The prohibition of any practice or contractual clause conditioning access to strategic products on the purchase of other non-strategic products, while ensuring retailers’ assortment freedom;
• The guarantee of fair and non-discriminatory access to exclusive products or limited editions for retailers meeting the objective criteria of the selective distribution network;
• The prohibition of any exchange of individualized sensitive commercial information, particularly regarding retailers’ commercial performance, pricing conditions, or any data allowing the identification of their activities, as well as the contractual framing of the methods and frequency of commercial data transmission;
• The elimination of any practice aiming to directly or indirectly impose a resale price on retailers. The communicated public prices will remain strictly indicative and will not be subject to any monitoring or sanction mechanism in case of non-compliance. Retailers will thus retain the freedom to set their prices and implement their own promotional actions;
• The establishment of an internal competition law compliance program, accompanied by the submission to the Competition Council of periodic monitoring reports detailing the measures implemented and the application of commitments.

CONTINUATION OF THE COMMITMENT PROCEDURE

In accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 6 and 7 of Article 26 of Decree No. 2-14-652 for the application of Law No. 104-12, the Competition Council publishes the commitment proposals submitted by the concerned companies to gather observations from interested third parties within a regulatory period of 30 days from the date of publication of this press release, i.e., June 8, 2026.

Following this market test, and after examining the collected observations, the Competition Council will make its final decision by making the aforementioned commitments mandatory for the parties, marking the closure of the procedure.