Court acts against feed cartel
29 November 1999
Court acts against feed cartel
By FWi staff
A PRICE-FIXING agreement which threatened to increase the cost of animal feed to farmers has been struck down by the Restrictive Practices Court.
Five major international suppliers of the feed additive lysine had agreed a minimum price which they would charge UK customers .
But in an undefended hearing, the court accepted a pledge from the Kent-based company Archer Daniels Midland Ingredients not to abide by the agreement.
The court also made an order against Cheil Jedang Corporation, a South Korean company, not to give effect to the agreement or any similar deals in the future.
Under UK law, action could not be taken against the three other companies which did not do business in the country when the anti-competitive agreement was made.
Speaking after the ruling, John Bridgeman, director-general of fair trading, said it was the first time action had been taken in the UK against an international cartel.
Fixing the price of an additive widely used by pig and pork producers “may well have had an impact on the income of our hard-pressed meat producers,” he said.
The parent companies and some of the executives involved in the agreement have already been fined more than US$120 million (£75m) by the Department of Justice in the USA.