International Price Fixing Scheme

Secret backroom deals conducted in hotels and private apartments.  Dedicated phone lines.  Market-sharing agreements and price fixing activities.  Million-dollar deals.  Thinking oil, diamonds, shares or foreign exchange?  Think again!  Eleven of the top … yoghurt makers in France, including American-owned Yoplait, were recently fined approx. $200 million for the above activities, which affected about 90% of the French yoghurt market and thus “seriously disturbed” it.  

Yoplait, the majority of which is owned by U.S.-based General Mills, Inc., actually revealed the cartel under a French law that allows companies to self-report their price fixing activities in exchanged for reduced punishment.  So far, the company has received no fines.

Apparently, the French competition authorities are cracking down on deals such as the above.  The French government has also recently started cleaning out, so to speak, the ranks among shampoo, toothpaste and various cleaning product manufacturers.

Price fixing does, of course, disturb the free market forces.  When shopping in this country, it is remarkable how close prices for various everyday items are.  However, that does not mean that prices have been set in any illegal way.  Retailers such as gas stations, which are well-known at least in the Los Angeles area to have almost the same prices all the time, could just stick the head out the window to see how the competitors price their products.  But if mere yoghurt is worth the above risk, one wonders what else may be going on behind the scenes in the global corporate world.  Perhaps it’s better not to know.