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EU Competition Authorities Accuse Big Five of Price Cartel |
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26 July 2007
In 2005, Chiquita informed the EU competition authorities that some of its staff may have been guilty of sharing price information and market fixing with other big banana and pineapple companies. This triggered a surprise raid on offices in Ireland, UK, Germany and Belgium by Brussels competition police in the earlier hours of June 4th 2005.
Two years on, on July 25th 2007, Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte, Fyffes, Noboa and one other company received a "Statement of Objections" for the European Commission anti-trust investigators. The European Commission will review responses to the Statements of Objections in order to determine whether to issue a final decision. Michael Carter, Dole’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, stated, “The Company strongly disputes the European Commission’s allegations of anti-competitive behavior and believes that Dole has not violated the European Union competition laws.” The other companies have not denied responsibility.
Source: various European press and reefertrends.com
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