Dutch Competition Authority’s Fining Methodology Upheld In Court

On 20 March 2013, the District Court of Rotterdam, ruling on an appeal in the silver skin onion cartel case, held that the Dutch Competition Authority ("ACM") was entitled to take the EU-wide turnover of the companies concerned as the basis for the imposition of fines.

In May 2012, the ACM imposed a total fine of over € 9 million on participants in a cartel affecting silver skin onions. The ACM found that five companies growing and processing onions agreed on the maximum area of land that each of them would farm, thereby limiting production and aiming to increase selling prices. The fines imposed were, for the first time, based on the EU-wide turnover of the undertakings involved. According to ACM, sales to customers outside the Netherlands, affected by the cartel, could have an impact on the competitive process and structure of the industry in the Netherlands. Moreover, the ACM considered that the European Commission or other Member States would not initiate