No L 222/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 8. 87 COMMISSION DECISION of 13 July 1987 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/31.741 — Sandoz) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (87/409/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 Treaty (1), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 3 (1) and 15 (2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission Decision of 15 April 1986 10 initiate proceedings in this case on its own initiative, Having given the undertaking concerned, Sandoz Prodotti Farmaceutici SpA, the opportunity to make known its views on the objections raised by the Commission, pursuant to Article 19 (1) of Regulation No 17 and Commission Regulation No 99/63/EEC of 25 July 1963 on the hearings provided for in Article 19 (1) and (2) of Council Regulation No 17 (2), After consulting the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas 1. THE FACTS A. Subject of the Decision (1)  This Decision concerns the commercial relationship between Sandoz Prodotti Farmaceutici SpA and its customers. It concerns, in particular, an export ban. B. The undertaking (2)  The undertaking to which this Decision is addressed is Sandoz Prodotti Farmaceutici SpA, the Italian subsidiary of the Swiss group Sandoz. The Sandoz (1) O No 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62. (2) O] No 127, 20. 8. 1963, p. 2268/63. group, which has its head office in Basle, Switzerland, is a multinational company of major importance. Its subsidiaries operate in all continents in a total of 44 countries and as producers in 34 of them. In the Commmunity, companies of the Sandoz Group are present in all the Member States except Luxembourg. The Group is active in a variety of sectors (1985 turnover: SwF 8 453 million; about ECU 4870 million), the principal ones being pharmaceuticals (1985 turnover: SwF 3 912 million; about ECU 2 253 million), dyestuffs and chemical pigments (1985 turnover: SwF 2 107 million; about ECU 1 213 million), nutritional products (1985 turnover: SwF 1121 million; about ECU 645 million), agricultural (‘agro’) products (1985 tunover: SwF 601 million; about ECU 346 million), and the production of seeds and biotechnological research. The Italian subsidiary of the Sandoz group was founded in the 1920s under the name of Sandoz SpA. The undertaking operated under this name until 31 December 1983. From 1 January 1984, the pharmaceuticals side of the business was separated from the chemicals side and assigned to two separate companies: Sandoz Prodotti Farmaceutici SpA (hereinafter referred to as Sandoz PF) and Sandoz Prodotti Chimici SpA. In Italy (at its Milan plant) Sandoz PF produces all the proprietary medicinal products and over-the-counter products of the Sandoz range, except for those which, mainly for technical reasons, are still manufactured and exported from Switzerland. Sandoz PF is alo the distributor in Italy of the pharmaceutical products which it produces or imports. In the last financial years the turnover of Sandoz SpA’s pharmaceuticals division (up to 1983) and then of Sandoz PF (from 1984) was the following: 1981: Lit 70 600 million (about ECU 56 million); 1982: Lit 84 100 million (about ECU 63,5 million); 1983: Lit 99 900 million (about ECU 74 million); 1984; Lit 109 800 million (about ECU 79,5 million); 1985: Lit 97 614 million (about ECU 66 million).