Brussels, 11/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission explained on Thursday 10 July 2008 that its competition department had carried out unannounced spot checks of cereal distributors, suspected of operating a price fixing cartel. In a press release, the European Commission explains: 'The European Commission can confirm that, on 10th July 2008, Commission officials carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of traders and distributors of cereals and other agricultural products for human consumption and animal feed in two member states. The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EC Treaty rules on cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 81).' If it decides to continue with its inspections, the Commission may send the companies a list of grievances, one of the stages in issuing formal price-fixing proceedings.
The Commission's inspectors were assisted by inspectors from the national competition authorities of the countries in question. Cartels are secret deals to fix prices or divide up markets that lead to artificially high prices and restricted competition. The Commission has pledged recently to step up its monitoring of food prices as EU inflation hits record highs under pressure from high energy and food prices. The Commission has announced plans to monitor food commodity markets and how they impact on price changes. (L.C.)