Phosphates cartel: EU court validates €60m fine for animal feed company Timab

The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed the Roullier group’s appeal and confirmed the €60m fine imposed on its subsidiary, Timab
The EU Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed the Roullier group’s appeal and confirmed the €60m fine imposed on its subsidiary, Timab

The EU Court of Justice has dismissed animal feed company Timab's appeal against an earlier General Court ruling and confirmed a €60m fine for its role in a feed phosphates cartel.

The General Court had upheld a Commission decision of July 2010 fining several companies for coordinating prices and allocating sales quotas for animal feed phosphates in Europe.

Today's judgement by the EU Court of Justice fully upholds the Commission's findings and the fine of €59.85 million imposed jointly and severally on Timab and its parent company CFPR of the Roullier Group.

It confirms that the fine imposed on Timab reflected the gravity and duration of the infringement and was an accurate application of the rules concerning the calculation of fines.

In doing so, the Court confirmed the Commission's approach to take into account new information in the course of the standard procedure.

Timab and its parent company CFPR of the Roullier Group were held jointly and severally liable for a fine of €59,850,000 for their participation in the Animal Feed Phosphates cartel for over ten years.

They were the only parties who chose not to settle the case. Altogether, the cartel participants were fined €175,647,000.

9Their aim had been to share a large part of the European feed phosphates sales by allocating sales quotas and coordinating prices, as well as coordinating sale conditions when and to the extent necessary for those purposes.