The contentious-administrative Chamber of the National Court has confirmed the existence of a cartel formed between ten companies and associations of the dairy industry to exchange sensitive commercial information and thus coordinate the purchase of milk in Spain, as already resolved by the Commission National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) in 2019. Then the entity imposed fines of 80.6 million euros, considering that these companies altered the prices of raw milk between 2000 and 2013, harming thousands of ranchers and decreasing their ability to negotiate prices.
The companies, including some large companies such as Pascual, Lactalis, Nestlé and Danone, appealed the CNMC resolution to the National Court. Now, the court has issued nine sentences, one for each appellant company, confirming the fines of 8.5 million euros imposed on Calidad Pascual; of 53,310 euros to Central Lechera Galicia; 11.6 million to Grupo Lactalis Iberia; 6.8 million to Nestlé and 929,644 euros to Schreiber Food España, according to the different rulings. Regarding these sanctions, the Court has rejected the companies’ argument, which considers them arbitrary.
However, the court has partially upheld the appeal presented by Comercial Alimentaria Peñasanta, which had been fined 21.8 million euros; Danone, with 20.2 million euros; Industrias Lácteas Granada (Puleva), sanctioned with 10.2 million euros; and Association of Dairy Companies of Galicia (Aelga), after “understanding that some of the periods investigated are prescribed.”
Thus, the Chamber has asked Competition to recalculate these fines taking into account the periods that are considered prescribed for each of them, while in the case of Aelga, the Court confirms that it participated in the cartel, but has annulled the fine of 60,000 euros “due to lack of motivation.”
The ruling opens the door to the claim of some 13,000 ranchers. Today, the Galician organization Unións Agrarias reported that it will file lawsuits on behalf of 5,000 ranchers to claim compensation from the sanctioned companies.
