ANFIMA-IMPRESS-CAVIONI-FUSTITALIA-FALCO-LIMEA FISMA
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
METAL PACKAGING: THE AUTHORITY HAS IDENTIFIED THE EXISTENCE OF A CARTEL AND FINED THE COMPANIES INVOLVED
At its meeting on 29 July 2004 the Competition Authority ascertained the existence of two anticompetitive agreements regarding the pricing of metal packaging for paints, oils and industrial products (general line packaging) and food products (open top packaging).
In particular, on the general line packaging market the agreement had been concluded between: Associazione Nazionale fra i Fabbricanti di Imballaggi Metallici ed Affini (ANFIMA) e dalle società ASA Italia S.p.A., ASA San Marino S.A., Baroni S.r.l., Cavioni-Fustitalia S.p.A., Eurograf s.n.c. di Mezzalira & C., FA.BA Sirma S.p.A., FA.BA. Sud S.p.A., F. Ceredi S.p.A., Falco S.p.A., Giorgio Fanti S.p.A., GVT di Galvani Argentina e Vito s.a.s., I.C.M. S.p.A., Impress S.p.A., Italgraf S.p.A., Legnani & Ferrari S.r.l., Limea Fisma S.p.A., Metalscatola S.p.A., New Box S.p.A., Nuova Ital S.r.l., OCM S.r.l., Salerno S.r.l., Salerno Packaging S.p.A., S.I.L.F.A. Società Imballaggi Latta Fusti Acciaio S.r.l., Venegoni Pietro di Vanola Anna Maria & C. s.n.c.
On the open top packaging market, the agreement was concluded by ANFIMA and FA.BA Sirma S.p.A., FA.BA. Sud S.p.A., Idria S.r.l., Impress S.p.A., IN.CAM. Fabbrica Barattoli S.p.A., Italian Can S.r.l., National Can Italiana (N.C.I.) S.p.A., Salerno S.r.l., SI.CO.M. S.r.l.
In view of the gravity and the duration of the offence, the Authority fined the companies parties pursuant to Section 15 of the Competition Act, a total of EUR 5 million.
The investigation began on 16 July 2003 following a report to the Authority, in which it was alleged that the ANFIMA Association had sent a circular to all the members producing general line metal packaging, laying down a percentage increase in prices to be charged for this packaging following the increase in the cost of tinplate, and subsequent requests from some of the members to increase prices in a percentage consistent with that indicated by the Association.
Following inspections and from information gathered during the course of the investigation, on 2 October 2003 and 19 February 2004, the case was broadened to include all the companies belonging to ANFIMA producing general line packaging on the general line national market, as well as the ANFIMA member companies producing open top packaging (for foodstuffs), in order to ascertain whether there existed a similar agreement on the open top packaging markets in the Centre-North and Centre-South of Italy.
The agreements in question comprised a series of measures which, taken together, would interfere with competition on the general line and open top packaging markets, by setting uniform price increases following the increase in the cost of the raw material (tinplate), as well as standardised contractual conditions, such as the terms and conditions of payment.
The agreement for the general line packaging market was found to have been in force from 1990 to 2003, while the open top packaging market agreement ran from 2000 to 2003. These agreements were considered to be very serious by their nature, and by the importance and representate character of the professional association involved, the large number of companies held liable, and the material impact on the market, as well as the geographical dimensions of the relevant markets.
Taking all these circumstances into consideration, the Authority judged the offences to be particularly serious, and considering the duration of the offences it ordered the companies found liable to pay the following fines:
general line
| ASA ITALIA | EUR 254,000 |
| ASA SM | EUR 173,000 |
| ARONI | EUR 101,000 |
| LIMEA | EUR 243,000 |
| CAVIONI | EUR 61,000 |
| CEREDI | EUR 11,000 |
| EUROGRAF | EUR 6,000 |
| FALCO | EUR 208,000 |
| FANTI | EUR 242,000 |
| GVT | EUR 1,000 |
| ICM | EUR 35,000 |
| IMPRESS | EUR 1,063,000 |
| ITALGRAF | EUR 77,000 |
| LEGNANI & FERRARI | EUR 14,000 |
| METALSCATOLA | EUR 15,000 |
| NEW BOX | EUR 42,000 |
| NUOVA ITAL | EUR 5,000 |
| OCM | EUR 220,000 |
| SALERNO SRL e SALERNO PACKAGING | EUR 37,000 |
| SILFA | EUR 98,000 |
| VENEGONI | EUR 1,000 |
open top
| FABA SIRMA e FABA SUD | EUR 805,000 |
| IMPRESS | EUR 604,000 |
| INCAM | EUR 175,000 |
| SICOM | EUR 73,000 |
| NATIONAL CAN ITALIANA | EUR 91,000 |
| SALERNO SRL | EUR 13,000 |
| IDRIA | EUR 21,000 |
| ITALIAN CAN | EUR 2,000 |
Rome, 12 August 2004