No C 29/30 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities 12. 5. 73 
COMMUNICATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION 
on the amended  text  at present  valid  of Decision  No 30-53  on practices  prohibited  by 
Article  60 (1) of the Treaty  in the common  market  for coal  and  steel 
By its Decision  No  30-53  of 2 May  1953  (ECSC 
Official  Journal,  4 May  1953,  p. 109)  the  High 
Authority  laid  down  detailed  rules  concerning 
practices  forbidden  by Article  60 (1) of the  Treaty. 
That  Decision  was  amended  and  supplemented  by 
Decisions 
— No  1-54  of 7 January  1954  (ECSC  Official 
Journal,  13 January  1954,  p. 217) 
—' No 19-63  of 11 December  1963  (Official  Journal, 
24 December  1963,  p. 2969/63) 
— No  440/72  of 22 December  1972  (Official  Jour-
nal, 30 December  1972,  No L 297,  p. 39) 
In order  to make  it easier  for  those  concerned  to 
apply  those  provisions,  the  amended  version  of 
Decision  No  30-53  valid  from  1 January  1973  is set 
out below. 
Article  1 
1. This  Decision  shall  apply  to Community  under-
takings  in respect  of their  transactions  within  the 
common  market  in the  products  specified  in Annex 
I to the Treaty,  with  the exception  of scrap. 
2. Where  Community  undertakings  sell  such  goods 
within  the  common  market  through  selling  agencies, 
the obligations  created  by this  Decision  shall  apply 
to transactions  by such  selling  agencies. 
For the  purposes  of this  Decision,  'selling  agencies' 
means: 
— joint  selling  agencies  (Article  65  (2)  of the 
Treaty)  operating  on behalf  of several  producer 
undertakings; 
— distributor  undertakings  which  are  administered 
by a producer  undertaking  and  regularly  em-
ployed  by it to sell  all or some  of its products, and whose  sales  operations  consist  primarily  in 
the distribution  of that  undertakings's  products. 
Article  2 
1. It shall  be a prohibited  practice  within  the mean-
ing of Article  60 (1) of the  Treaty  for  a seller  to 
apply  in the  common  market  dissimilar  conditions 
(Article  4) to comparable  transactions  (Article  3). 
2. The  preceding  paragraph  shall  be  without 
prejudice  to the  application  of Article  60 (2) (b) of 
the Treaty  and  of decisions  adopted  in connection 
therewith. 
Article  3 
1. Transactions  shall  be  considered  comparable 
within  the meaning  of Article  60 (1) if 
(a) they  are concluded  with  purchasers, 
— who  compete  with  another,  or 
— who  produce  the  same  or similar  goods,  or 
— who  carry  out similar  functions  in distribution, 
(b) they  involve  the same  or similar  products, 
(c) in addition,  their  other  relevant  commercial 
features  do not essentially  differ. 
2. Transactions  shall  not  be considered  comparable 
within  the  meaning  of Article  60 (1) if between  the 
dates  of their  being  agreed  upon  a lasting  change 
occurred  in the seller's  prices  and  conditions  of sale. 
Article  4 
1. Conditions  shall  not  be  considered  dissimilar 
within  the  meaning  of Article  60 (1) of the  Treaty 
if different  conditions,  which  make  appropriate 
allowance  for  differences  in the  services  rendered, 
or in the carrying  out  of transactions,  are applied  by 
a seller  to comparable  transactions. 
2. Conditions  shall  be  considered  dissimilar  if, 
without  a corresponding  increase  in price,  a seller 
allows  periods  for  payment  more  favourable  than 
those  generally  applied  to comparable  transactions. 
12. 5. 73 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities No C 29/31 
Article  5 
Undertakings  which  allege  that  transactions  are  not 
comparable  (Article  3) or that  conditions  are  not  to 
be considered  dissimilar  (Article  4) shall,  at the 
request  of the  Commission,  set  out  the  facts  and 
circumstances  which  may  justify  this. 
Article  6 
1. Where,  under  Article  60 (2)  (b)  of the  Treaty, 
a seller  aligns  his quotation  on a competitor's  price 
list or, in so far as there  exists  no obligation  or there 
exists  only  a limited  obligation  to publish  prices,  on 
the prices  and  conditions  actually  applied  by  a 
competitor,  it shall  be a prohibited  practice  within 
the meaning  of Article  60 (1) of the  Treaty  for him 
to apply  conditions  affording  the  purchaser  a 
delivered  price  lower  than  that  at which  the purchaser 
could  obtain  the goods  from  the competitor. 
2. In calculating  delivered  prices  account  shall  be 
taken  of transport  costs,  surcharges  or taxes  borne 
by the  purchaser,  less  rebates  or drawbacks  allowed 
him,  in addition  to the prices  and  conditions. 
3. Where,  under  the  last  subparagraph  Article  60 
(2) (b) of the  Treaty,  the  seller  aligns  his quotation 
on the  conditions  quoted  by undertakings  outside 
the Community,  the  provisions  of paragraphs  1 and 
2 shall  apply  correspondingly. 
4. Undertakings  which  allege  that  pursuant  to 
Article  60 (2) (b) they  have  aligned  their  quotation 
on a lower  delivered  price  of a competitor  in the 
common  market  or  an  undertaking  outside  the 
common  market,  shall,  at the  request  of the  Com-
mission,  show  that  the  conditions  for alignment  had 
been  obtained  and  that  they  had  complied  with  the 
provisions  of paragraphs  1 to 3 of this  Article  in 
calculating  the price. 
The condition  for  alignment  under  the  last  sub-
paragraph  -of Article  60 (2) (b) is that  alignment  has 
been  imposed  by the  effective  competition  of the 
undertaking  outside  the Community. 
Article  7 
It shall  be a prohibited  practice  within  the  meaning 
of Article  60 (1) of the Treaty  to include  in the price 
charged  to the purchaser  the amount  of any  taxes  or charges  in respect  of which  the  seller  is entitled  to 
extemption  or drawback. 
Article  8 
It shall  be a prohibited  practice  within  the  meaning 
of Article  60 (1) of the  Treaty  for  an undertaking 
to sell  the  products  specified  in Annex  I, with  the 
exception  of scrap,  through  its  selling  agencies 
(Article  1 (2))  at prices  and  on conditions  which  do 
not correspond  its own  prices  and  conditions  of sale. 
Article  9 
1. Undertakings  and  their  selling  agencies  shall 
require  middlemen  selling  the  products  specified  in 
Annex  I, with  the exception  of scrap: 
— either  in the  name  and  on behalf  of the  under-
takings  or their  selling  agencies  (eg  employees, 
agents,  representatives);  or 
— in their  own  name  but  on behalf  of the  under-
takings  or their  selling  agencies  (eg  commission 
agents,  agents  for goods  on consigment), 
to apply  in their  transactions  the  price  lists  or the 
prices  and  conditions  of sale  of the  undertakings  or 
of their  selling  agencies  and  to observe  the provisions 
of Articles  2 to 7 of this  Decision. 
2. Undertakings  shall  be held  responsible  for  in-
fringements  of the above  obligations  by such  middle-
men. 
3. Undertakings  and  their  selling  agencies  shall 
furnish  the  Commission,  at its  request,  with  all 
particulars  of the  commercial  operations  of the 
middlemen  referred  to in paragraph  (1) and  enable 
it to consult  any  of their  records  which  could  help 
it to assess  the nature  of such  transactions. 
Article  10 
Undertakings  and  their  selling  agencies  shall  frame 
their  conditions  of sale  in such  a way  that  their 
customers  (dealers),  in reselling  their  products  in the 
unaltered  state  other  than  by sale  from  stock  in the 
case of steel  and  by retail  in the  case  of coal,  are 
under  an obligation  to comply  with  the rules  set out 
in Articles  2 to 7 of this  Decision.