In 2025, the Competition Council (CC) took a significant step in the supervision of food retail by adopting its first decision on a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices Prohibition Law (UTPPL). At the same time, the authority worked purposefully to ensure that participants in the food supply chain had a clear understanding of their rights and protection mechanisms, strengthening fair, transparent, and balanced cooperation between suppliers and buyers.
Last year, the CC adopted its first decision on a violation of the UTPPL, finding unfair trade practices in the activities of SIA "MAXIMA Latvija". The company was fined EUR 1.87 million for the violation and was also given several legal obligations to ensure fair, transparent, and balanced cooperation with suppliers in the future. In the opinion of the CC, the decision taken is not only intended to deter other market participants from unfair trade practices, but also to strengthen suppliers' confidence in the CC and encourage them to report such cases more actively.
Last year, the CC concluded its market surveillance of payment terms in the fresh fruit, vegetable, and berry supply chain. The results showed that, despite the terms specified in the contracts, payments to suppliers were actually delayed from a few days to almost 300 days, thereby unjustifiably reducing the working capital available to suppliers. In view of the violations found, the CC has initiated several infringement cases against purchasers, which are expected to be concluded in 2026.
In addition, in 2025, the CC launched a new market surveillance project, "Assessment of the Competitiveness of the Retail Sector in Latvia and the Baltic States," within which information is being obtained from the competition authorities of Lithuania and Estonia. The purpose of the market surveillance is to assess whether there are barriers to competition and risks of abuse of market power in the retail sector in Latvia, in order to identify improvements or additional supervisory measures, if necessary. Market surveillance is planned to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
At the same time, in 2025, the CC actively cooperated with state institutions and industry representatives in the food retail sector. In cooperation with the Ministry of Economics, the CC provided support in the development of a memorandum, including on issues related to price comparison tools, the collection and analysis of national market share data from retailers, as well as in the context of amendments to the UTPPL and other food retail policy initiatives. The CC also held meetings with industry associations, providing feedback on the results of the supplier survey and discussing current issues in the industry.
In 2025, the CC purposefully strengthened market participants' understanding of the application of UTPPL, promoting fairer cooperation between suppliers and buyers. During the year, the CC prepared four thematic explanatory articles, which explained in practical terms the most common problem situations and legal solutions, and the CC organized three webinars for entrepreneurs on the application of the law in everyday cooperation. During the webinars, participants actively engaged in discussions, asking questions about actual cases, which allowed for practical explanations and promoted legal action in practice.
These activities have yielded tangible results – entrepreneurs' awareness has increased significantly. The CC has provided 22 individual consultations, which confirms both the growing trust in the institution and the desire of entrepreneurs to ensure that their actions comply with the law in a timely manner.
At the same time, the CC also provided explanatory communication in the media on food retail issues, helping the public better understand the principles of market operation and supervisory mechanisms. This promotes transparency in the sector and strengthens consumer confidence in market processes.
“The first decision adopted in the UTPPL case is an important signal to the entire industry – unfair trade practices will not be tolerated. At the same time, explanatory measures regarding UTPPL requirements were implemented last year, promoting market participants' understanding and trust in the supervision process and the CC as the supervisory authority," notes S. Uljane, Director of the CC Market Surveillance and Research Department.
In a survey of suppliers, the CC concluded that in 2025, suppliers' awareness of unfair trading practices regulations and the CC as a supervisory authority had increased. The data obtained shows that 83% of respondents know that the CC should be contacted regarding unfair trading practices (51% in 2024), while 85% of respondents indicated that they trust the CC as a supervisory authority.
The supervision of food retail will continue to be one of the institution's priorities. The CC will continue its targeted supervisory, explanatory, and analytical work to promote fair competition, strengthen balanced relationships in the food supply chain, and reduce the risks of unfair trading practices.