Fresh Del Monte Produce is the latest fruit giant to state that it has not received a statement of objections in the EU’s probe into an alleged banana cartel in southern Europe.
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The EU is investigating allegations of a cartel a year after finding companies including Dole Food Co. and Chiquita Brands International guilty of price-fixing in the north of the continent.
Yesterday (17 December) however, Dole insisted it had not received a statement of objections from the European Commission – a formal step in anti-trust investigations informing parties concerned of objections raised against them.
“Neither Fresh Del Monte nor any of the company’s subsidiaries have received a statement of objections in the European Commission’s investigation into alleged violations by certain importers and marketers of bananas of European competition laws in southern Europe,” the company stated.
Last year, Dole agreed to pay a EUR45.6m (US$65.5m) fine in instalments for its role in a price-fixing cartel in northern Europe.
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By GlobalDataThe Commission said Dole was among the companies that had formed a cartel to fix banana prices in eight EU markets, including Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
