EC fines chemical companies for cartel activities
The European Commission (EC) is to impose fines totalling €66.34 million on Akzo Nobel, BASF and UCB for operating a cartel in the market for choline chloride, otherwise known as vitamin B4, used as additive in animal feed for poultry and pigs. The clients, animal feed producers, supply EU farmers. The EC says the move is part of its fight against price fixing and market sharing practices.
An investigation has revealed the companies involved met secretly between 1992 and 2004 to set prices and share markets for the product in the European Economic Area (EEA), violating EU Treaty rules. In total, they controlled around 80% of the world market, estimated at €180 million in 2003, with the EEA accounting for €50 million.
As the North American companies involved ended their participation in the infringement in April 1994, they escaped fines due to the first investigative action taking place more than five years later. They have, however, been warned against similar practices in the future.
The EC has justified the severity of its fines by the huge geographical scope and high value of the infringement, as well as the fact that BASF has once before been condemned for similar activities.
