7. 3. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 60/19 COMMISSION DECISION of 15 February 1991 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty A (IV/31.559 — Sippa) (Only the French text is authentic) (91/128/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85-and 86 of the EEC Treaty ('), as last amended by the Act of Acces- sion of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the application submitted on 12 June 1985 by the ‘Comité du Salon de la Papeterie’ for negative clearance or, alternatively, exemption of the general regu- lations governing the ‘Salon International Professionnel de la Papeterie et de la Bureautique’ (Sippa), Having published a summary of Sippa’s regulations () in accordance with Article 19 (2) of Regulation No 17, Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas : I. THE FACTS A. Organization of the Salon ().  The ‘Comité du Salon de la Papeterie’ is a regis- tered association under the French Law of 1 July 1901 and was set up on 13 March 1972. Under Article 2 of its articles of associations, its purpose is to group together the paper industry, particularly in connection with trade events (‘Salon de la Pape- terie’). All exhibitors at the Salon who have paid their contribution are members of the Comité as of right. (2)  Every year, at the beginning of February, the - Comité organizes the ‘Salon International Professi- onnel de la Papeterie et de la Bureautique’ (Sippa) () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () O] No C 226, 11. 9. 1990, p. 3. in Paris. The Salon is reserved for the trade and is the largest trade event of its kind in France. At the 1990 Salon, which was held from 1 to 5 February, the exhibition area covered about 45000 square metres, and there were some 600 exhibitors, inclu- ding 70 foreign exhibitors among which 50 from other Member States; some 40 000 articles were exhibited. (3)  Admission request forms are sent automatically in May to all exhibitors at the previous Salon. Appli- cations for the recent Salon were registered at the following rates : French Foreign ' exhibitors exhibitors Total June 1989 113 11 ‘ 124 - July 1989 130 16 146 September 1989 76 3 79 October 1989 94 11 105 ° November 1989 56 9 65 December 1989 32 16 48 January 1990 31 5 " 36 532 71 603 (4)  Other paper industry trade fairs are held in France, but they are either sectoral or regional. Of the 300 such fairs, a good many are held in the weeks following the Sippa. There are also several international paper trade fairs comparable ‘to Sippa, for example in Frankfurt, Germany, or those organized in the Netherlands by Vifka, whose regulations were exempted by Commission Decision 86/499/EEC (*) (but which also cover office equipment). ¢) OJ No L 291, 15. 10. 1986, p. 46.