Australia Penalizes Vitamin MonopolyAustralia Penalizes Vitamin Monopoly

Australia Penalizes Vitamin Monopoly

MELBOURNE, Australia--Roche Vitamins Australia, BASF AustraliaLtd. and Aventis Animal Nutrition (formerly Rhone-Poulenc Animal Nutrition) haveagreed to collectively pay $26 million (AUS) to settle price-fixing lawsuitsbrought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The bulkof the settlement, $15 million (AUS), will be paid by Roche.ACCC claimed that the companies met during the 1990s to fix the price ofvitamins A and E in animal feed supplied to Australia. "With increasinginternational trade liberalization, it is becoming even more important that thebenefits of international competition are not stymied by international cartelarrangements," said Allan Fels, chairman of the ACCC.According to ACCC, this is the largest suit under Australian laws that hasallowed consumers and businesses to recover damages due to price fixing. Thesuits are similar to ones filed in the United States and the European Unionagainst Roche and BASF.Previously, the highest national penalty paid for price fixing was in 1995,when three Australian building companies paid a cumulative $19.8 million (AUS)in fines. For additional information, visit www.basf.com.