Federal Court Imposes a Fine of $5.2 Million For International Vitamin Conspiracies

OTTAWA, March 1^st, 2000 — The Competition Bureau announced today that the Federal Court of Canada has imposed a fine of $ 5.2 million for conspiracies to fix prices and allocate market shares for two vitamin products sold in Canada.

Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd. of Japan, pleaded guilty and was convicted of participating in international conspiracies involving vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, and vitamin C, between 1991 and 1995.

In addition to this fine, the court imposed a Prohibition Order prohibiting the commission or repetition of these competition offences for a period of ten years in Canada.

"This is a significant penalty in our continuing pursuit of international cartels in the bulk vitamin industry," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Commissioner of Competition. "The unprecedented level of fines to date reflects the egregious behaviour and the considerable impact these cartels have had on the Canadian economy."

The conspiracies were designed to allocate the sale and artificially raise the prices of vitamins B2 and C, widely used in food, animal feed and pharmaceutical products. Takeda's sales in Canada of these bulk vitamins were approximately $ 32 million.

In September and October of 1999, a number of other bulk vitamin producers were convicted and fined over $ 84 million for their participation in multiple conspiracies involving a number of bulk vitamins. Inquiries into bulk vitamins and other food and feed additives are ongoing.

Copies of the documents filed before the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, in Toronto are available here:

(Court File number T-230-00)
Indictment (PDF: 66 KB)

For further information, please contact:

Cynthia Grant
819-994-0349