EC fines Marine Hose makers a total of Euro 131 million

ERJ staff report (DS)

Brussels -- The European Commission has imposed a total of € 131 510 000 in fines on five groups - Bridgestone, Dunlop Oil & Marine/Continental, Trelleborg, Parker ITR and Manuli - for participating in a cartel for marine hoses between 1986 and 2007 in violation of the ban on cartels and restrictive business practices in the EC Treaty.

Yokohama also participated in the cartel but was not fined because it revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission.

These fines are in addition to any penalties issued by the US Department of Justice.

The fines for Bridgestone and Parker ITR were increased by 30 percent because of their leadership of the cartel. Manuli was granted a 30 percent reduction of its fine for its cooperation with the investigation under the Commission's leniency programme.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said “For 20 years, this cartel added to the prices consumers paid for their oil deliveries. I will not tolerate illegal cartels and will continue to impose heavy fines on those companies found guilty of this kind of serious malpractice."

Bridgestone was hit hardest, with a fine of Euro 58.5 million. Parker ITR was fined Euro 25.6 million, while Trelleborg received a fine of Euro 24.5 million.

Among the companies who were fined, Trelleborg issued a statement saying it had , "not yet received the complete decision. Accordingly, we can not yet comment on the measures that will be taken as a result of the decision or whether it will be appealed. Trelleborg awaits receipt of the complete decision. "

Peter Nilsson, President and CEO of the Trelleborg Group continued, “It is good that we now have received a decision on this issue. Clearly, competition violations are completely unacceptable, and we have in an open way assisted the authorities with their investigations. We have also taken significant internal actions to minimise the risk that this could happen again.”

Yokohama, which blew the whistle on the cartel issued a statement saying, "Yokohama Rubber has traditionally emphasized the importance of complying with antitrust laws and made efforts to eliminate its involvement in bid-rigging or cartel by establishing a Corporate Compliance Committee and other programs within the company. In the course of an internal investigation conducted in the fall of 2006, however, the company's involvement in a cartel behavior in sale of the product was discovered. Yokohama Rubber therefore applied to the EC for immunity from a fine under the above-mentioned Notice."

The company continued, "We heartily apologize to our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders for their concern and inconvenience regarding this matter. Yokohama Rubber is committed to form a company-wide team to have compliance-based management deeply rooted in our corporate culture. In this endeavor, we solicit your warm understanding and support."

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Press release from EC