8 Jan - On January, 2nd, Inter Weichert lodged an appeal before the European Court of First Instance in Luxemburg requesting the Court to annul the EU Commission´s decision, of 15 October 2008, which had found Inter Weichert in violation of EU antitrust rules.
The appeal also calls on the Court to annul the fine of EUR14,700,000 imposed by the EU Commission jointly and severally on both Inter Weichert and Del Monte.
Inter Weichert is appealing to the Court of First Instance, an independent judicial authority, against the EU Commission��s finding that Inter Weichert had participated in “concerted practices to coordinate price information on bananas” between 2000 and 2002.
Both Inter Weichert and its legal advisers are convinced that the EU Commission's decision is based on a series of errors of fact, as wells as manifest errors of law.
In the meantime Inter Weichert will still be required to put up security for the fine and Inter Weichert is currently discussing the allocation of this security with Del Monte, its former majority shareholder, as well as with EU Commission representatives.
Inter Weichert´s managing directors would like to emphasize, that throughout almost 100 years of company history Inter Weichert has always conducted its business in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. In particular it never showed any behaviour that may have violated legislation related to cartels and restrictive practices.
Inter Weichert´s managing directors are confident that the European Court of First Instance will annul the EU Commission's Decision and will consequently reverse the unwarranted decision against Inter Weichert.