Why the Antitrust blacklists GLS on the green project
Start of troubled mandate for Guido Pietro Bertolone, CEO of GLS Italy since 3 February: in the same hours a millionaire fine for unfair commercial practices was delivered by the Agcm to the company active in logistics services. According to the Authority, the environmental sustainability initiative "was organised, financed and communicated without transparency". All the details
The Agcm, the competition and market authority, has imposed a fine of 8 million on the companies General Logistics Systems BV, head of the GLS Group in Europe, General Logistics Systems Italy SpA and General Logistics Systems Enterprise Srl. euros . For the Agcm, the environmental sustainability initiative "Climate Protect", with which GLS built its green image, "was organised, financed and communicated without the transparency, rigor and diligence required of operators in a very polluting sector , such as that of the shipping, transport and delivery of goods", the Antitrust informs.
DIFFICULT START OF MANDATE FOR THE NEW CEO
The mandate of Guido Pietro Bertolone, CEO of GLS Italy since 3 February after having held the role of CEO in the Arcese Group, is not starting to go downhill.
THE ANTITRUST ACCUSATIONS
“Taking into account that the growing awareness of environmental problems influences in an increasingly decisive manner the purchasing behavior and the reputation of companies compared to their competitors – they write from the Agcm -, it has been ascertained that, within the scope of the environmental sustainability program implemented by General Logistics Systems BV, the three companies used environmental declarations that were ambiguous and/or presented in an insufficiently clear, specific, accurate, unambiguous and verifiable manner on the General Logistics Systems Italy SpA website”.
IMPOSITION ON CUSTOMERS
“It emerged – according to the Competition and Market Authority – that customers subscribing to General Logistics Systems Enterprise services were required to join this program and pay a financial contribution in order to obtain a certificate, which was not requested, certifying the compensation of CO2 emissions relating to the respective shipments. This contribution was defined regardless of a prior verification of the costs attributable to the "Climate Protect" program, exempting large customers from payment and implying that the group companies themselves would have contributed significantly to its financing".
SMOKY GREEN COMMUNICATIONS
“Instead, it turned out – concludes the Agcm – that the companies of the GLS group, in addition to having passed on all the economic costs linked to the program to their subscribed customers and to the shipping companies affiliated to the General Logistics Systems Italy network, have received greater contributions of the costs incurred to implement the program. Furthermore, the communications sent to subscribed customers and affiliated companies and the certifications on CO2 emissions compensation issued to customers and companies for their shipments were found to be misleading, ambiguous and/or untruthful".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/perche-lantitrust-fa-nera-gls-sul-progetto-green/ on Tue, 04 Feb 2025 10:22:54 +0000.