The Commission for Protection of Competition has adopted two new Guidelines providing further instructions on the implementation of the Law on Trading Practices for Certain Types of Products (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 35/2026). Following the Guidelines Regulating Unfair Trading Practices adopted in June, the most recent Guidelines further address the assessment of significant bargaining power, and the protection of confidential data in unfair trading practices proceedings.

Guidelines Further Defining Significant Bargaining Power (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 63/2026 and 66/2026)

The Guidelines set out the criteria and circumstances that the Commission will consider when assessing whether a buyer has significant bargaining power. While the statutory turnover thresholds remain an important starting point, the Guidelines indicate that the assessment will also take into account the broader economic and commercial circumstances of the relationship.

The Guidelines provide clarifications on how the statutory turnover thresholds are to be applied in practice. It is specified which revenues are relevant and should be included in the calculation, how turnover is assessed where a business carries out multiple activities or participates in a purchasing alliance or other form of association between market participants, and which accounting year is relevant.

It also addresses situations where revenue is generated from multiple activities, clarifying when different activities are considered complementary and how revenues from non-complementary activities may be treated. This may be particularly relevant for businesses operating across multiple lines of activity, as the classification of those activities can affect the turnover calculation.

The Guidelines confirm that meeting the statutory thresholds gives rise to a presumption of the buyer’s significant bargaining power. However, even where the buyer does not meet the applicable threshold, the supplier may demonstrate that the buyer nevertheless has significant bargaining power if the buyer’s turnover exceeds that of the supplier.

The Commission may consider, among other things:
– geographical or seasonal constraints, particularly for perishable products;
– technological or commercial adaptations made specifically for a buyer;
– the costs and practical difficulty of switching to another buyer;
– unjustified delays in negotiations;
– the parties’ history of negotiations, existence of a written contract, conduct during dispute resolution and similar;
– which party initiates amendments to the contractual terms, whether one party accepts terms without negotiation, the amount and frequency of fees, etc.

Importantly, no single factor is decisive. Several indicators, considered together, may establish significant bargaining power even where the statutory turnover thresholds are not met.

These Guidelines came into force on 18 July, 2026.

Guidelines on the Publication of Protected Data in Unfair Trading Practice Proceedings (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 71/2026)

These Guidelines provide details on what constitutes protected data, the requirements for submitting a request for protection, and the manner in which protected data are to be redacted from publicly available decisions and other acts. Protected data includes trade secrets, commercially sensitive and confidential information, including information whose disclosure could cause significant harm or enable the identification of the person submitting the initiative or of third parties where there are legitimate grounds for maintaining their anonymity.

It is important that businesses identify confidential information at the time of filing and provide clear and specific reasons why its disclosure could cause harm. This is particularly relevant given that protection is not automatic and must be justified, and that disclosure of commercially sensitive information may expose a business to competitive disadvantage or other commercial harm.

These Guidelines came into force on 8 August, 2026.

For further information please contact office@pricapartners.com.