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China levies its largest anti-monopoly fines against 6 milk powder makers

CHINA today handed out the largest penalty for violation of the anti-monopoly law to six milk powder makers.

The nation's top economic planner handed out fines of 669 million yuan (US$108 million) to infant formula makers including Biostime, Mead Johnson, Dumex, Abbott, Friesland and Fonterra, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its official website today.

Three milk powders that were also under investigation, Wyeth, Beingmate and Meiji, were exempted from punishment due to their collaboration with the investigation and active self-rectification measures, the statement said.

The price-fixing investigation by the NDRC began at the end of June and covered a dozen of infant formula makers from home and abroad, after authorities identified a 30 percent increase in imported baby formula prices since 2008.

Mead Johnson Nutrition said in a statement yesterday that it has received a fine of 203.76 million yuan from the commission.

Hong Kong-listed infant milk producer Biostime International Holdings Ltd said in a stock exchange filing today that one of its subsidiaries was ordered by the NDRC to pay 162.9 million yuan in fines after it was found to be providing fixed prices in its distribution agreements.

It pledged to improve its internal control system and ensure it complies with laws and regulations.

Xu Kunlin, director of the Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly Bureau at the commission, said in an interview with Xinhua over the weekend that the bureau will step up efforts to crack down on monopoly cases and ensure fair and open market competition to guarantee business owners' as well as consumers' interests.

Companies found to have broken the Anti-Monopoly Law face fines of 1 to 10 percent of their annual sales plus the confiscation of all illegal gains.




 

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