Taiwan Fines Japan Tobacco Firms for Price-Fixing

Source from:  AFP 03/04/2011

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwanese authorities on Thursday fined Japan Tobacco International (JT International), maker of the Mild Seven brand, for manipulating prices in violation of fair trade law. Thirty-one distributors affiliated with the company were fined a total of Tw$21.9 million ($942,000) for "jointly raising prices… which impacted supply and demand in the tobacco market," said the Fair Trade Commission. "The commission urges suppliers in all sectors to refrain from such joint (price-fixing) activities at a time of inflation, or risk heavy penalty," it said in a statement. The distributors met frequently between January and April 2010 to fix prices for tobacco products, which violated fair competition in the market and hurt consumers' welfare, the commission added. It is the first time the tobacco industry has been fined for violating fair trade law in Taiwan. Enditem