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ARTICLE · 22 MARCH 2018

Significant Cartel Case Developments In February 2018

Van Bael & Bellis
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On 1 February 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") delivered four judgments dismissing the appeals brought by participants involved in the air freight forwarding cartel.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Richard Burton
Richard Burton
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Court of Justice dismisses appeals in freight forwarding cartel case

On 1 February 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("ECJ") delivered four judgments dismissing the appeals brought by participants involved in the air freight forwarding cartel.

By way of background, in 2012, the European Commission adopted a decision in which it found that a number of undertakings had fixed pricing mechanisms and surcharges for a variety of freight forwarding services, which the Commission considered to amount to four distinct infringements of the EU competition law rules: (i) the "New Export System" cartel relating to customs pre-clearance; (ii) the "Advanced Manifest System" cartel relating to the advance transmission of data on shipped goods; (iii) the "Currency Adjustment Factor" cartel relating to currency risks associated with the Chinese renminbi; and (iv) the "Peak Season Surcharge" cartel relating to temporary rate adjustments at certain times of high

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