CARTELS : FINE REDUCED FOR ROMANA TABACCHI BUT NOT FOR MINDO OR TRANSCATAB.

The fine imposed on Romana Tabacchi (2.05 million) for its participation in a cartel on the Italian raw tobacco market between 1995 and 2002 was reduced by the EU General Court, on 5 October, because the European Commission had erred in its assessment of the facts and infringed the principle of equal treatment (Case T-11/06). The court rejected, however, all the arguments presented by Mindo (ex-Dimon Italia) and Transcatab, two other cartel members. The three companies are under court-ordered settlement (Cases T-19/06 and T-39/06). The cartel consisted of collusion on prices paid to tobacco producers and intermediaries as well as the allocation of suppliers.

The court found that, when calculating the fine, the EU executive did not correctly asses the duration of Romana Tabacchi's participation or the specific weight of its participation, since it worked on the basis of the market shares held during the last full year of the...