CURRENT CASES
Industrial Bags
If you are a purchaser of industrial bags used for raw materials, fertilizers, animal feed or building materials, you may well have been significantly overcharged during the 20 year cartelised period ending in June 2002.
Contact
For a free confidential consultation, please contact either Anthony Maton, or Lianne Craig.
The Cartel
In November 2005, 16 companies were fined by the European Competition Commission a total of €290.71 million for their involvement in an anti-competitive cartel designed to fix prices, share sensitive business information and organise collusive bidding in the plastic industrial bags market.
Products specifically cartelised include industrial bags used to pack various products of an industrial nature including raw materials, fertilizers, animal feed and building materials. These products were then often sold onto consumers. The Commission found that some of the addressees had been involved in the cartel for over 20 years in Germany, the Benelux countries, France and Spain.
Although the companies involved have already been fined, none of this money is used to compensate the victims. As a result, the Competition Commission in its press release strongly encourages victims of anti-competitive behaviour to seek recovery of damages before the courts of Member States.
The Cartelists
Below is a list of all the companies the Competition Commission specifically addressed in its decision and found to be directly involved in the cartel;
| Addressees | Fine (millions in Euros) |
| Bernay Film Plastique | 0.94 |
| Bischof+Klein GmbH & Co KG | 29.15 |
| Bischof+Klein France SA | 3.96 |
| Bonar Technical Fabrics NV and Low & Bonar PLC | 12.24 |
| British Polythene Industries PLC and Combipac BV | 0 |
| Cofira-Sac SA | 0.35 |
| Fardem Packaging BV and Kendrion NV | 34.00 |
| Koninklijke Verpakkingsindustrie Stempher CV and Stempher BV | 2.37 |
| Nordenia International AG and Nordfolien GmbH | 39.10 |
| Plásticos Españoles SA and Armando Álvarez SA |
42.00 |
| RKW AG Rheinische Kunststoffwerke and JM Gesellschaft für industrielle Beteiligungen mbH & Co KGaA | 0.39 |
| Sachsa Verpackung GmbH and Groupe Gascogne | 13.20 |
| Trioplast Wittenheim SA and Trioplast Industrier AB |
17.85 |
| FLSmidth & Co A/S and FLS Plast A/S | |
| UPM-Kymmene Oyj | 56.55 |
| TOTAL | 290.71 |
British Polythene Industries PLC was given full leniency from a fine under the Commission’s leniency programme for notifying the Commission of the existence of the cartel.
