GRANA PADANO CONSORTIUM
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
THE AUTHORITY HAS OPENED AN INVESTIGATION INTO AN AGREEMENT NOTIFIED BY THE CONSORZIO GRANA PADANO
At its meeting on 31 July 2003 the Competition Authority resolved to commence an investigation into the Consorzio Grana Padano to ascertain whether the agreement initialled between the members of the Consortium are likely to restrict competition and thereby violate Section 2 of the Competition Act. The agreement under investigation was notified by the Consortium itself, which requested the waiver provided by Section 4 of the Act, if it were found to be anti-competitive.
The agreement in question makes provision for a progressively rising scale of membership fees to be paid by each individual member for each Grana Padano cheese produced in excess of the average production levels of the past eight years. This is based on the calculation that the various types of Grana Padano cheese produced each year by the Consortium exceeds 3.5 million cheeses.
This system of contributions deters production increases by individual member companies of the Consortium, thereby holding down the quantities of Grana Padano cheese produced, and making it possible to push up the consumer prices; the effects of this are essentially the same as those found during the investigation concluded in 1996 into the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium and the same Grana Padano Consortium, and are therefore likely to restrict competition and hence violate Section 2 of the Competition Act.
The Authority has therefore resolved to commence an investigation into the Consortium in order to ascertain whether the notified agreement is anti-competitive and, if so, whether grounds exist for granting the requested Section 4 waiver.
The procedure will be completed by 31 March 2004.
Rome, 18 August 2003