Competition Commission Concludes Settlement With Oceana

On 19 June 2012 the Competition Tribunal confirmed as a consent order the settlement agreement entered into between the Competition Commission (Commission) and Oceana Limited and Oceana Brands Limited (Oceana) on 9 May 2012. In terms of the settlement agreement Oceana agreed to pay a fine of ZAR34 750 050, which represents 5% of its turnover from its pelagic fish operations in South Africa for 2010.In addition, Oceana admitted to contravening the Competition Act (Act) in that along with members of the South African Pelagic Fish Processors Association, including Foodcorp, Premier Fishing SA, Gansbaai Marine, Terressan Pelagic Fishing, Paternoster Visserye, Pioneer Fishing (Pioneer) and Saldanha Foods, it agreed to fix the prices paid to vessel owners, skippers and crew for their services.