Communiqué No. 2021/4 (“Amendment Communiqué numbered 2021/4”) Amending the Block Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements (Communique No: 2002/2) (“Block Exemption Communique on Vertical Agreements”) entered into force by being published in the Official Gazette on 5 November 2021.

As per the Amendment Communiqué numbered 2021/4, the market share thresholds under the Block Exemption Communique on Vertical Agreements are decreased from 40% to 30%. With the amendment, in order for a vertical agreement to benefit from the block exemption, the market share threshold of the supplier in the relevant market concerning the goods and services provided, shall not exceed 30%. For the vertical agreements where a sole (exclusive) purchaser is appointed by the supplier, the market share threshold of the purchaser shall not exceed 30%.

A transition period is introduced by the Amendment Communiqué numbered 2021/4. Accordingly, vertical agreements which used to benefit from exemption under the scope of the Block Exemption Communique on Vertical Agreements but cease to benefit from the exemption due to the decrease of the threshold under the Amendment Communiqué numbered 2021/4, should now fulfill the individual exemption conditions provided in the Law on the Protection of Competition numbered 4054 and qualify for individual exemption within six months. During the transition period of six months, prohibition provided for in Article 4 of the Law on the Protection of Competition numbered 4054 will not be applicable to such vertical agreements.