In more details
- Broiler chicks price fixing cartel
The ECA investigation revealed three price-fixing agreements among 162 producers of broiler chicks, who agreed on the retail price of the broiler chicks to poultry farmers. In this regard, they have exchanged commercially sensitive information, including, inter alia, prices, costs, available volumes, feed prices, and other essential market-related information. Furthermore, the Cartel Members set a minimum resale price for their products to limit the choices available to poultry farmers/producers.
In addition, according to the ECA, the General Union of Chicken Producers was aiding and abetting the cartel by ensuring that the Cartel Members adhered to the agreed-upon prices.
According to the ECA, this cartel has resulted not only in the increase of the retail prices of chicks for poultry farmers but on the retail price of poultry to final consumers in Egypt.
The ECA initiated criminal proceedings against the 162 Cartel Members and imposed an administrative decision to suspend all agreements made between them and to prohibit them from exchanging commercially sensitive information.
- Media and advertising bid rigging case
In the second case, the ECA found that five advertising and publication companies agreed to refrain from participating in a number of public bids for advertising rights related to the 6th of October City Development Authority.
The ECA ordered the violating parties to cease any agreements, discussions, or correspondence related to bid rigging of public bids. In addition, the ECA addressed the Chamber of Advertising and Publication, stressing the importance of complying with the ECL to its members.
Main takeaways
These two cases provide useful takeaways;
- This is the biggest cartel case in the ECA's history where a criminal action was initiated against 162 market players.
- The ECA in this case has immediately initiated the criminal action against the chicks cartel. However, it has not done so in the advertising bid rigging case. This reconfirms that the ECA's policy is not necessarily to give an opportunity to those violating the law to settle before the initiation of the criminal action.
- The ECA has confirmed its strict stance on exchange of commercially sensitive information.
- Bid rigging remains one of the most important violations in the last few years.
- The ECA statement that its findings indicated that these three chicks cartels have resulted in not only in the increase in the retail prices of chicks to poultry farmers but also to chicken prices to final consumers. This indicates that ECA was able to establish that the supply chain of chicken has passed on this cartel overcharge to end consumers. This increases the risk of private actions against the implicated chicks producers.
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