THE ITALIAN ANTITRUST FINDS AGAINST THE GORGONZOLA CONSORTIUM FOR AN AGREEMENT RESTRICTNG COMPETITION (Closure of investigation)
PRESS RELEASE
At the conclusion of an investigation of the Consortium for the protection of Gorgonzola Cheese which was started last June, the Italian Antitrust Authority has found that the Consortium's production plans and the relative executive acts, adopted between 1991 and 1998 as well as some provisions within the Consortium's regulations constitute agreements restrictive to competition, in violation of Art. 2 of Law No. 287/90.
The aspects which the Authority singled out as forbidden were those which aimed at fixing prices under normal market conditions, global production ceilings and annual production quotas which each company was obliged to respect.
As has been stated by the Authority in the past, in investigations against the Consortia of Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano, the principle aim of the consortia, to protect the product's image, i.e. insure its level of quality, must be carried out while respecting each company's entreperneural autonomy.
In the case of the Consortium of gorgonzola producers, the system adopted of detailed controls of quantity imposed on the entrepreneural activity was not in respect of the objectives placed within the regulations to guarantee the quality of the cheeses. Rather it went against the regulation which protected competition and penalized the growth of more dynamic companies. In fact the power to define rigid production quotas for the individual companies constituted an obstacle to the growth of those companies which were more able to satisfy the consumers' needs and adapt most efficiently to market dynamics.
The Authority has instructed the Consortium to desist from adopting similar production plans in the future and to maintain in force the previsions of the contested regulations and it has told the Consortium to present, within 120 days a report illustrating the way in which effective competitive conditions will be re-instated in the market.