THEE - The Competition Commission - Commission withdraws case against Clover,

THEE - The Competition Commission - Commission withdraws case against Clover,   
Ladismith, Nestle and Parmalat                                                  
MEDIA RELEASE                                                                   
20 April 2011                                                                   
Commission withdraws case against Clover, Ladismith, Nestle and Parmalat        
The Competition Commission has withdrawn its case against Clover Industries     
Limited and Clover SA (Pty) Ltd, Nestle SA (Pty) Ltd, Parmalat (Pty) Ltd  and   
Ladismith Cheese (Pty) Ltd, the remaining respondents in its long running       
prosecution of the milk processors that started in December 2006. This          
prosecution related to, among other allegations, price fixing conduct.  Clover  
applied for leniency in respect of some of these allegations.                   
The Commission`s withdrawal follows the Supreme Court of Appeal`s ruling in     
September 2010 in which it upheld Woodlands Dairy (Pty) Ltd and Milkwood Dairy  
(Pty) Ltd`s objections to the Commission`s initiation and investigation. The    
Appeal Court ruled that the Commission`s initiation of an investigation into    
anticompetitive conduct in the milk industry was unlawful because it did not    
specify allegations faced by each firm and was not based on a reasonable        
suspicion that all firms in the industry were engaged in such conduct.          
The case pertained to conduct which existed until at least 2006. Dynamics in the
milk market have changed since the investigation and referral of this case to   
the Tribunal. The Commission will continue to monitor developments in the       
industry to ascertain if there are any current competition concerns.  To that   
end it has put together a team to conduct a scoping exercise to determine the   
current state of competition in the production and processing stages of the     
value chain.                                                                    
ENDS                                                                            
Further Information:                                                            
Oupa Bodibe, Manager: Advocacy & Stakeholder Relations                          
012 394 3267 / 082 563 6970/ oupaB@compcom.co.za                                
Keitumetse Letebele, Head of Communication                                      
012 394 3183/082 783 3397/ keitumetseL@compcom.co.za                            
Date: 20/04/2011 12:33:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za                     
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