The Competition Council announced on Thursday the opening of an investigation in order to verify the existence of alleged anti -competitive practices on the supply market in industrial sardine.
“Within the framework of the exercise of its missions and attributions provided for by the Constitution, law n ° 20-13 relating to the Competition Council, as well as law 104-12 relating to freedom of prices and competition, such as modified and supplemented, aimed at the regulation of competition on the markets and the protection of consumer interests, the Competition Council has been granted and opened an investigation in order to verify the existence of presumed practices anticoncurrentials on the supply market in industrial sardine ”said a press release from the general rapporteur of the Council, taken up by the MAP agency.
The acts of investigation carried out by the investigation and investigation services relating to the competition council made it possible to collect elements sufficiently convincing likely to characterize the existence of practices of anti -competitive agreements implemented by several stakeholders on the supply markets in industrial sardine.
-These anti -competitive agreements which were intended to restrict competition on the supply market of industrial sardine, for a period of 20 years, focused in particular on the “Concerted fixation of the prices of the first sale of industrial sardine, thus obstructing prices training through the free game of the market by artificially promoting their increase or their decrease” and the “Distribution and concerted limitation of production, which limits market access and the free exercise of competition by other stakeholders”.
To this end, the General Rapporteur of the Competition Council indicates that, in accordance with the provisions of article 29 of law n ° 104-12 aforementioned, grievances have been notified to 15 professional organizations involved in these alleged anti-competitive practices in the supply market of industrial sardine, representing shipowners, industrial units active in the transformation and promotion of industrial fish, and Mareyers active in the purchase of fishery products during their first sale after their fishing, with a view to marketing.
This notification of the grievances addressed to the parties in question opens the contradictory procedure, and guarantees the exercise of the rights of the defense of said parties. “Finally, it should be noted that the notification of the grievances sent by the investigative and investigation services, cannot prejudge the final decision of the Council. Indeed, only the college of the Competition Council can, after an investigation carried out in a contradictory manner in compliance with the defense rights of the parties concerned and after the holding of a meeting of the Council, rule on the merits of the grievances in question “concludes the press release.
