Anti-competitive probe a 'timebomb’ for food manufacturers

Adam Collinson, a partner at Eversheds LLP, said there was no sign that EU’s European Competition Network (ECN) was easing up on its efforts to clamp down on anti-competitive activities.

He told delegate at a food and drink legal seminar at Eversheds London office that the ECN had been buoyed by its recent success because the food sector had been a fertile source of competition infringement.

“The more the authorities look, the more they find,”​ he said. “They are not going to stop shining a light on these practices when they are having so much success.”​

‘The more they look, the more they find’​​

He said a strong network of communication had been built up between the national competition authorities within the ECN.

“This is creating a domino effect,” he said. “If you look at some of the investigations in one area, they are frequently popping up in others.”​

He told delegates that anti-competitive practices included price fixing, market sharing, unlawful information exchange, resale price maintenance and exclusionary conduct.

He said there had been 180 anti-trust investigations between 2004-11.

“If there are anti-competitive practices going on, or in a company’s history, they are sitting on a time bomb. This is a good time for all companies to check how compliant they are with competition laws.”​

Meanwhile, the European Commission has told 13 companies supplying packaging for meat, fish and cheese products that they may have been participating in a cartel for up to eight years in breach of EU antitrust rules.

The Commission has sent a statement of objections to manufacturers or distributors of polystyrene foam trays and polypropylene rigid trays.