VARIAZIONE DI PREZZO DI ALCUNE MARCHE DI TABACCHI
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
The Competition Authority is beginning an investigation into an alleged agreement between cigarette manufacturers
On 14 June 2001, the Competition Authority began an investigation into companies dealing on the Italian cigarette market, to ascertain whether they have concluded anti-competitive agreements.
In addition to Ente Tabacchi Italiani S.p.A. the companies under investigation are the multinational corporations: Philip Morris Companies Inc., British American Tobacco P.l.c., Japan Tobacco Inc., Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH, Altadis S.A., Austria Tabak AG, Gallaher Group P.l.c., Imperial Tobacco Group P.l.c., Scandinavisk Tobakskompagni A/S. The investigation also extends to the Italian-registered subsidiaries of these multinational groups.
When cigarette prices were raised on 30 March 2001, and on all previous occasions, these companies are alleged to have concluded agreements with the purpose or the effect of limiting or substantially distorting competition on the relevant market, prohibited by section 2 of the Competition Act (Law 287/90). For these increases were introduced simultaneously and uniformly by all the manufacturers, which raised the prices, each time, by the same amount for nearly all their main brands. This conduct cannot be put down to the statutory provisions regarding cigarette sales in Italy. For even though the retail prices of cigarettes must be set out, with a Ministry of Finance decree, in the tables containing all the retail prices, this is only done for the purposes of facilitating tax collection, while "retail prices and changes to them are set out in accordance with the prices charged by manufacturers and importers" (Law No 825/65 as subsequently amended).
The Competition Authority began the action as a result of the most recent 200 lire increase per packet of cigarettes on 31 March 2001, applied to most of the products of all the manufacturers involved.
The investigation will be completed by 31 May 2002.
Rome, 14 July 2001