The European Commission yesterday served a "statement of objections" on fruit importer Fyffes over its role in an alleged price-fixing cartel.
Fyffes, which could face fines of up to €50 million if ultimately found to have breached EU competition rules, said it was considering its response to questions from the commission.
In a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange after the market had closed yesterday, Fyffes said it had received statements of objections from the commission following raids on premises in June 2005.
A spokesman for the company said Fyffes would now have to respond to the questions, after which the commission will decide whether the company has been involved in illegal practices.
Fyffes yesterday declined to outline the precise details contained in the statements of objection, but confirmed that they relate to alleged infringements of article 81 of the Treaty of Rome and article 53 of the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement relating to the supply of bananas to the northern European region of the EEA, which includes Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.
Such breaches, if ultimately proved, allow the commission to levy fines of up to 10 per cent of a company's turnover. While the break-up of Fyffes into three constituents - Fyffes, Blackrock International Land and Total Produce - over the past couple of years has reduced the headline turnover for the fruit importer, the company's most recent results reported turnover in 2006 of €508 million.
The raid on Fyffes's headquarters in 2005 coincided with similar visits to major fruit companies in Germany, Belgium and Britain and it is believed similar statements of objections may have been sent to other firms.
At the time of the initial raids, a commission spokesman said it had reason to believe the companies under investigation "may have violated" article 81 of the treaty, which prohibits price-fixing and market-sharing practices.
In yesterday's statement, Fyffes said it has always fully complied with commission requests.
