Why the Competition Authority does not fly in the feathers … – The Express

They are punished, but their fragility saving them a more severe sanction. The Competition Authority today condemned twenty industrial poultry and two trade associations to 15.2 million fine for commercial agreement. Twenty-one of the industrial poultry sector, LDC (Rented, Le Gaulois, etc …), Duke and Gastronomy and the FIA ​​and CIDEF unions are thus pinned for having agreed a coordinated manner “in to reduce uncertainty in the course of commercial negotiations “with supermarkets between 2001 and 2007.

” Rules, even if you are small “

The penalty is smaller than those usually imposed. The Authority said it had minus the amount of all fines, because “most companies did not dispute the facts.” The investigation could not establish “a real driving prices,” said the Authority, refuting the existence of a real organized cartel.

But it is mainly to spare a sector in crisis that the Authority has proved indulgent. Originally, 44 companies were involved in the investigation, but several of them have since disappeared or been placed in receivership. This is the case of Sweet for example, which has been exempted fine. “There are rules and boundaries not to be crossed, even if you are small or weak. After we wanted to be pragmatic and adjust the amount of sanctions to reflect the particular situation of the sector,” said the president Authority Bruno Lasserre.

& gt; & gt; Read: Mild poultry in the heart of the crisis

An inter poultry sector

The sanctions have also been reduced as manufacturers have taken the formal commitment to do everything to create the next 3 years, a true interprofessional the poultry sector, which will also be involved farmers and large retailers, in order to overcome its lack of current crises facing the organization.

According to the Chairman of the Authority Bruno Lasserre, the poultry sector is characterized by high fragmentation of actors, significant volatility in commodity prices and dependence of some actors with respect to the retail This limits their bargaining power.

The first report for the creation of this organization must be submitted within 18 months the Authority has appointed an agent to monitor the progress of the process.