Israel: Dairy giant hit with largest price fixing fine

According to the Times of Israel, Tnuva was hit with an NIS 25 million (US$6.9 million) fine after it admitted to illegal price fixing, the largest-ever financial penalty on a firm in Israel for violating antitrust laws.

The announcement of the fine comes nearly a year after reports indicated a settlement had been reached between the Antitrust Authority and Tnuva over the company’s anti-competitive practices.

Under an agreement last month with the Antitrust Authority that was approved by an antitrust tribunal, details of which were cleared for publication on Monday, September 3, two former senior executives at the company were also fined NIS 75,000 (US$20,000) a piece.

The fine was imposed on Tnuva over agreements it reached with the Shufersal and Mega supermarket chains to raise prices on a number of its products, as well as an understanding with the stores in 2011 to set a uniform price on low-fat cream cheese made by the country’s three largest dairy producers in order to prevent the other two, Strauss and Tara, from undercutting Tnuva, the Antitrust Authority declared in a statement.

Full Content: Times of Israel

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