HP Announces EMEA Do Not Trade List

Originally published at Channel Partner Insight.

Exclusive: HP draws up EMEA blacklist of consumables suppliers

HP has circulated a partner blacklist as part of its efforts to clamp down on counterfeit print supplies trading, as Channel Partner Insight reports.

The Do Not Trade List for EMEA includes four partners that HP says have engaged in counterfeit and/or illegitimate trading.

Two of the partners are based in Germany and one in Burkina Faso, with defunct Beta Distribution the sole UK business listed.

One of the German businesses, Winterholt & Hering, reported sales of €110m for the year ending 31 December 2017, according to the German equivalent of Companies House.

The second, Imcopex, reported revenue of €155m in the same period.

The document states that partners are “not permitted to directly or indirectly trade HP supplies with any company on the Do Not Trade List”.

It explains that the rationale is to “keep our channel clear of counterfeiting and improper trade of HP supplies such as grey marketing, VAT fraud and abuse of HP programmes”.

Partners that violate the Do Not Trade List may be subjected to “severe consequences” including rebate reclaims, lump-sum payment and partner programme expulsion, HP warned.