Producers face EU grilling over cartel allegations

Some of Norway’s biggest salmon producers are expected to appear in a closed-doors hearing this week in front of the European Commission’s Competition directorate, to face allegations of price-fixing. Reuters has reported that Grieg Seafood, SalMar and others are due to appear in Brussels this week. The companies concerned have, so far, firmly denied any suggestion that the industry acted improperly. In January of this year, the Commission named Mowi, SalMar, Grieg Seafood, Bremnes Seashore, Leroy and Cermaq as the companies that, it believes, shared pricing, production volumes and other information in an attempt to manipulate the spot market for Norwegian-produced Atlantic salmon between 2011 and 2019. The Commission’s “Statement of Objections” followed a long-running investigation, which included a raid in 2019 on the Scottish offices of a number of salmon producers. If the Commission does eventually find the companies guilty of breaching competition law, they face potentially huge fines under EU law. Meanwhile a group representing UK consumers has launched a class action lawsuit over the alleged price-fixing issue, claiming compensation of €450m (£382m). The European Commission’s Competition has declined to comment. Normally, closed-door hearings are neither confirmed nor denied until after they have taken place.