Unfair Commercial Practices in Georgian Law
In Georgia, unfair commercial conduct is primarily an institution of competition law. The governing framework is the Georgian Law on Competition, whose relevant provision directly prohibits unfair acts by economic agents. To understand the boundaries of this page, one point must be stated plainly at the outset: a separate consumer-protection regime governing business-to-consumer unfair trading practices is not part of the legal basis assembled here, and this page is therefore grounded in the competition-law prohibition. Likewise, the European Union directive on unfair commercial practices is a foreign legal instrument with no application to Georgia — it is mentioned here only as comparative context, never as an operative norm.
The definitions article of the law explains the key terms on which the prohibition rests. An economic agent is a natural person, legal person, other association or union carrying out economic activity, regardless of residency or legal form. A competitor is an economic agent actual or potential on the relevant market. The relevant market is the sphere of circulation of goods or services on a defined territory, and it may cover the whole territory of Georgia, a part of it, or a part of it together with a part of another country's territory. The same article defines the applicant and the complainant — the two categories of persons entitled to approach the agency.
The Prohibition and the Two-Element Test
The first part of the prohibition article states the rule in one line: unfair competition is inadmissible. Although brief, this formula carries the entire regulatory weight, and its violation engages the sanctioning provisions of the same law.
Under the second part of that article, unfair competition is deemed to be any act of an economic agent that contradicts the norms of business ethics and infringes the interests of a competitor and of consumers. The concept therefore contains two elements: the act must contravene business ethics, and it must harm the interests of both a competitor and consumers. The law introduces its list of examples with the word „for instance”, which means the enumerated forms are illustrative rather than exhaustive — what matters in practice is that both elements of the concept are present.
Which Acts Are Prohibited
The second part of the prohibition article singles out seven typical forms of unfair competition. In practical terms, this list is the legal basis on which applications and complaints to the agency are drafted:
- transmitting, by any means of communication — including improper, unfair, unreliable or blatantly false advertising — information about goods or services that creates a misleading impression in the consumer and pushes the consumer toward certain economic action;
- concealing the true purpose of a deal in order to mislead the other party and thereby gain an advantage in competition;
- harming a competitor's reputation by creating a false impression about the enterprise, its products, its entrepreneurial or trade activity, including unfounded criticism or discreditation;
- appropriating the form, packaging or external appearance of a competitor's or a third person's goods;
- acquiring, obtaining, using or disseminating scientific-technical, industrial or trade information, or a commercial secret, without the consent of its holder;
- bribing a purchaser, a supplier, their employee, or a person empowered to take decisions, so that they act against the employer's interests or disregard consumers' interests;
- calling for a boycott.
Each of these forms is not an abstract moral judgment but a specific legal prohibition whose violation becomes a matter for the agency. In practice, the misappropriation of commercial secrets and the discreditation of competitors are among the most frequent scenarios, which makes timely documentation and evidence collection decisive.