The Competition Tribunal dismissed a lawsuit by “Comercial y Agrícola S.A.” (Comasa) against Cooperativa Agrícola Pisquera Elqui Ltda. (Capel). First, there is no direct contradiction between the Law of Cooperatives and Capel’s Statutes -on the one hand- and the norms that protect free competition -on the other hand-, regarding the obligations and prohibitions faced by the partners, in particular the prohibition to sell pisco grapes to third parties. Second, both the fact that Capel expelled Comasa from the cooperative, and the conditions under which the former reimburses the latter’s participation in it, do not affect the contestability of the pisco grapes market. Consequently, since the possible anticompetitive effects in the market were discarded, this lawsuit reduces itself to a conflict between business partners that must be solved in the corresponding jurisdiction.
