Memo: Competition: Commission welcomes Court of First Instance judgments in Sodium Gluconate cartel case

The European Commission welcomes the 27 September 2006 judgments by the European Court of First Instance dismissing the actions by Akzo Nobel (Akzo), Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Roquette Frères and AVEBE against the Commission’s October 2001 decision fining a worldwide Sodium Gluconate cartel (cases T-314/01, T-322/01, T-329/01 and T-330/01). In particular, the CFI confirmed that the parties had engaged in an illegal price fixing cartel. It upheld the fines imposed on Akzo, ADM and AVEBE and reduced the fine imposed on Roquette.