Processes - Dispute over "confectionery cartel": fines for manufacturers
The protracted legal dispute surrounding a cartel of confectionery manufacturers is as good as over. The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court announced a verdict on Tuesday, according to which the company Bahlsen ("Leibniz Butterkeks") must pay around 3.56 million euros for exchanging information in violation of antitrust law. The company Griesson de Beukelaer, which has brands such as "Prinzen Rolle" in its range, has to pay 2.25 million euros and CFP Brands ("Ricola") 0.45 million euros.
Originally, higher fines were planned, but the companies had reached an agreement with the court before the verdict. The allegations were reduced and the judges assessed the companies' actions at the time in a milder light. In its ruling, the court also pointed out that food retailers had strong market power vis-à-vis the manufacturers.
The issue was that the companies had exchanged information about the status of negotiations with food retailers in the context of an industry working group between 2006 and 2008. As the events went back so far, the court decided not to take evidence again in full.
In 2013, the Federal Cartel Office imposed fines on a total of eleven confectionery manufacturers for various reasons. Some companies lodged appeals at the time, after which the dispute went to court over several instances. A judgment has now been handed down against the last three companies affected (case reference V-6 Kart 9/19 OWi). The judgment is not yet legally binding. However, in view of the preliminary agreement between the parties, it is not very likely that an appeal will be lodged.
The agreement had already been reached with Griesson de Beukelaer and CFP Brands at the start of the proceedings in mid-November - but not initially with Bahlsen. The presiding judge, Ulrich Egger, then announced that the Bahlsen proceedings could be separated and continued in a separate main hearing. However, there were later further talks with Bahlsen and finally an agreement was reached. The proceedings now end after four main hearing days and therefore significantly earlier than planned.
A spokeswoman for Bahlsen emphasized that the accusations of alleged price fixing had been dropped. "The reason for the fine that has now been imposed is rather the exchange of information within the confectionery industry, which mainly served to protect against predominantly unlawful special demands from the food retail trade."
A CFP Brands spokesperson pointed out that, according to a Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ruling from 2017, the company was even supposed to pay five million euros. After a successful appeal to the Federal Court of Justice, the matter ended up before the Higher Regional Court again and the company now has to pay less than a tenth of the original amount. The company had agreed to the termination of the proceedings "in order to bring to an end an excessively long process that had been conducted excessively on the whole". Griesson de Beukelaer did not wish to comment.
Industry experts welcomed the end of the legal dispute. "This is the best solution for all parties involved," said Düsseldorf-based antitrust lawyer Johann Brück, pointing to the great distance in time between the companies' accusations. "Who could have produced memories that were not already on record? The proceedings would have become a pure farce."
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Source: www.stern.de
