7 eye firms accused of price fixing
Print Edition
SEVEN major eyeglass and contact lens makers were accused of price manipulation and China’s price watchdog fined five of them a total of 19 million yuan (US$3.05 million) as the country cracked down on price fixing and anti-competition practices.
Four major frame eyeglass manufacturers — Essilor, Nikon, Zeiss and Hoya — as well as three contact lens makers — Bausch+Lomb, Johnson & Johnson and Weicon — were found to have exerted price control on distributors and retailers, which violates Chinese anti-monopoly laws, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement yesterday.
“The manufacturers have dampened market price competition and violated market order,” the statement said. “Their move has kept lens prices at a high level, hurting consumers’ interests.”
The Shanghai unit of Essilor and the Beijing unit of Nikon were each fined 2 percent of their total revenue last year at 8.79 million yuan and 1.68 million yuan respectively.
The Guangzhou unit of Zeiss, the Beijing Unit of Bausch+Lomb and the Shanghai unit of Johnson & Johnson were each fined 1 percent of their revenue last year as they cooperated fully with the authorities during investigations that started last August.
Hoya and Weicon were not fined as they handed over important evidence and rectified the violations, the NDRC said.
The anti-monopoly law, enacted in 2008, allows for a fine of between 1 and 10 percent of a company’s revenue in China in the previous year.
The NDRC said the firms involved have cut their prices.
Hoya, Essilor, Zeiss and Bausch+Lomb have cut retail prices between 10 and 30 percent since late April, according to the companies’ statement on their official websites.
In August last year, the NDRC fined six milk powder producers a record US$110 million for price manipulation.
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