Brussels, Jul. 26 - Banana importer Dole Food Company Inc. said it had received a European Union charge sheet accusing it of running an illegal cartel to fix prices and control the supply of the fruit to northern Europe.
Tuesday Ireland's Fyffes PLC, Europe's largest fruit and vegetable importer, and its German-based joint venture Internationale Fruchtimport Gesellschaft Weichert & Co also said the E.U. Commission had accused it of alleged pricing fixing of bananas after a previous investigation.
The European Commission refused to confirm Thursday that it had sent the preliminary charges that follow raids on several banana companies' European offices in June 2005.
It never names the companies it suspects of antitrust abuse until it takes a final decision on their guilt.
The commission can impose fines of up to 10% of a company's global turnover.
Dole, headquartered in California, said it had received the charge sheet, saying it "strongly disputed" allegations that it had violated E.U. competition law.
"Dole is proud of its reputation as one of the world's most ethical companies and will continue to cooperate with the European Commission in order to provide the commission with a full and transparent understanding of the banana market," said Dole general counsel Michael Carter.
Tuesday, Fyffes and Weichert said they would examine the charges and respond in due course.
Fyffes said the E.U. had alleged that the cartel covered the E.U.'s largest market Germany as well as Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.
Companies can appeal a cartel file to the E.U. courts.