Cartel fine for onion sets goes to court

On January 15th the Rotterdam District court issued a ruling on the penalties that the Authority for Consumers and Market (ACM) has imposed on onion plant traders for violating the cartel prohibition. In 2009, 7 first year onion plant growers and processors agreed to destroy a part of their own sets. They were trying to prevent an excess of first year onion sets on the market. The judge believes the fines fit the crime.

The court finds that the ACM has given insight into the fine calculation, in which is has been made clear that the revenue made outside the European Union can be disregarded in determining the penalty. Therefore, there is no question of a 'double counting' of revenue.

In an interlocutory judgement, the court previously concluded that the amount of the traders fine was insufficiently supported by the ACM. It was not entirely clear how the ACM calculated the fines, and if the revenue earned outside the European Union was truly disregarded. This lack of information has since been fixed by the ACM.

The ACM has only been imposing fines since December 2012, while the research already took place in 2010. The companies believe that this process has dragged on far too long and that this is inconsistent with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. According to the judge, they should have taken into account that from August 2010 a fine would be imposed on them. Also, the total period of 3.5 years, which is how long the case has asked for (including the legal proceedings), does not breach the reasonable time, according to the judge.

Klik hier voor de uitspraak (click here for the verdict)