Luxemburg, 30/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU Court of First Instance has rejected the appeals of four of the six companies fined by the Commission in 2001 for operating a cartel in the zinc phosphate market between 1994 and 1998. Britannia Alloys and Chemicals Ltd, Sociéte nouvelle des couleurs zinciques SA (SNCZ), Union Pigment AS and Dr Hans Heubach GmbH & Co had asked the European Tribunal to annul or reduce the fines, totalling 11.95 euro for the six companies, imposed by the Commission. In a press release, the Tribunal says that in view of the gravity and the duration of the infringement, the fines were justified and calculated in an appropriate manner (see also EUROPE 8110).