A PYMNTS Company

Germany: Sausage cartel skip fines through loophole

By  |  June 26, 2017

Germany’s antitrust authority says it had to revoke €238 million (US $266 million) in fines imposed on sausage manufacturers for price collusion because the companies used a now-closed loophole in competition law.

The Federal Cartel Office in 2014 imposed fines totaling €338 million (US$37.8 million) on 21 sausage makers. It announced Monday that it has now had to drop fines to the tune of 110 million euros against three firms, following a decision in October to cancel fines totaling €128 million (US$143 million) against another two companies.

Under a now-revised law, when companies were officially taken over by another firm they disappeared from the books and fines couldn’t be enforced. That loophole, known as the “sausage hole” for its use in this case, has now been closed and parent companies made liable.

Full Content: Lexology

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.