European Commission begins three-day hearing into allegations of salmon price-fixing cartel

The European Commission has started a three-day hearing to investigate allegations of price fixing by six leading Norwegian salmon farming companies.

In January 2024, the European Commission announced that it would launch an investigation into spot price fixing. The document accuses Mowi, Cermaq, Grieg, Bremnes, Lerøy and SalMar of violating EU antitrust rules by colluding to distort competition in the EU spot market for Atlantic salmon farmed in Norway between 2011 and 2019, including by exchanging confidential business information.

The European Commission began a three-day hearing on the matter, led by senior European Commission antitrust officials, on Monday (September 16) and will last until September 18, according to Reuters. European antitrust officials and watchdog groups may also be invited to the closed-door hearing, Reuters reported, citing the companies and three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

SalMar and Grieg confirmed that representatives of the company would be present at the hearing, while Mowi declined to comment. Bremnes, SalMar and Lerøy did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Each has previously denied accusations of involvement in price fixing.

The European Commission declined to comment on the hearings. It recently closed antitrust cases against tech giants Apple and Google.

The European Union’s investigation into the matter started in February 2019. AND included raids on company facilities in several EU countries. As of January 2024, the EU has not issued any update on the status of the investigation, even when the US Department of Justice opened and then closed her own investigation and as several class action lawsuits were submitted AND settled inThe EU has no legal deadline for concluding antitrust investigations into anticompetitive practices.

In January The EC filed a statement of objections, informing the six salmon companies in writing of the allegations against them. The companies were then given access to the EC’s investigation files and had to respond in writing if they wanted to dispute any of the allegations in the documents. As part of their defence rights, the companies could also request an oral hearing before EU and national competition authorities to set out their views on the case, which is apparently happening this week.

If the EC finds there is sufficient evidence of a breach, it can fine any company up to 10 percent of its annual global sales. Margrethe Vestager, EC executive vice-president for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age, has previously said that manipulating the spot market for salmon sold in the EU could be a breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits cartels and other restrictive business practices.

The charges relate solely to the sale of fresh, whole and gutted Atlantic salmon farmed in Norway, which accounts for almost 80 percent of all farmed Atlantic salmon exported from Norway. Norway accounts for more than half of the world’s farmed Atlantic salmon production, and the EU is the main importer. The alleged conduct does not concern frozen farmed Atlantic salmon or processed products such as salmon fillets, loins or smoked salmon, according to Vestager.

Six Norwegian companies are also facing two lawsuits filed in the UK alleging collusion and unlawful price fixing, including one filed on behalf of consumers seeking GBP 382 million (USD 483.2 million, EUR 451.8 million) from Mowi, SalMar, Lerøy, Scottish Sea Farms and Grieg for alleged collusion and unlawful price fixing. A similar lawsuit filed March 2024 by UK retailers including Asda, Iceland Foods, Marks and Spencer, Ocado, Morrison supermarkets, Aldi and Co-op He is seeking damages of £675 million ($865 million, €790 million).

The Norwegian companies previously paid $85 million (€80 million) to settle a similar case in the United States, and reached a settlement of CAD5.25 million ($3.8 million, €3.6 million) in Canada.

In May 2024 DAvid Scott, Managing Partner of Scott+Scott, a law firm specializing in representing plaintiffs and plaintiffs in antitrust, trade and securities matters, outlined potential avenues for litigation in Europe involving allegations of price fixing of Norwegian farmed salmon, warning that “it could get messy.”

“What’s really important here, and I say this as someone who’s done this a long time, is that victims don’t want to wait. They can’t wait and they shouldn’t wait,” Scott told SeafoodSource. “They need to develop a recovery plan, and the potential for recovery in these cases is significant.”