Unfair Competition bill unfair says Employers Federation

The Polish Federation of Private Employers (PKPP) intends to file a complaint with the Constitutional Tribunal on November 12 over their concerns that new regulations under the Unfair Competition bill, to come into effect on Saturday, will violate the constitution. The bill, originally aimed at narrowing the gap between small businesses and big supermarkets by banning the sale of goods at cost, the issuing of coupons and promotions and limiting sales of own-brand labels, violates European Union regulations, in the Federation's view. With the new law in place, the PKPP claims as many as a thousand small companies may be put out of business. Andrzej Falinski, head of the Polish Trade and Distribution Organization (POHiD), even speculated that the new law would actively force smaller companies out of the market when supermarkets harden their stance towards their smaller counterparts. The most controversial is the provision under which only 20% of goods could be sold under the supermarket's own brand, which will also hit over a thousand small companies which together produce 95%-97% of products sold in larger supermarkets. "This will all lead to the bankruptcy of smaller firms and will likely result in massive lay-offs in supermarkets," explained Falinski. (Puls Biznesu, p. 4) J.K.