{"id":2223,"date":"2016-11-27T18:33:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T20:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2074.temp.domains\/~lawmecom\/\/?p=2223"},"modified":"2017-08-22T18:40:07","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T21:40:07","slug":"cade-breaks-settlement-record-in-longest-running-antitrust-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/press\/portugues-cade-breaks-settlement-record-in-longest-running-antitrust-case\/","title":{"rendered":"(Portugu\u00eas) CADE breaks settlement record in longest-running antitrust case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry, this entry is only available in Portugu\u00eas<\/a>. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.<\/p>

<\/p>\n

CADE breaks settlement record in longest-running antitrust case<\/h2>\n

Brazil\u2019s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) has approved a 300 million reais (\u20ac82.6 million) settlement agreement with orange juice producers and nine individuals implicated in an alleged price-fixing cartel, 10 years after the enforcer rejected a similar settlement offer.<\/p>\n

CADE\u2019s decision-making tribunal yesterday said it had agreed a settlement with orange juice producers Coinbra, Cutrale, Citrovita, Fischer, Cargill, and Bascitrus, industry trade association\u00a0Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira de Citricultores and nine individuals. The companies admitted they had colluded to lower prices they paid to orange farmers; the settlement, which involved no infringement findings by CADE, is the largest the enforcer has ever agreed.<\/p>\n

The settlement comes 17 years after the Brazilian enforcer first launched the investigation, and marks one more step in CADE\u2019s longest-running antitrust case.<\/p>\n

In November 2006, the enforcer\u2019s tribunal rejected the companies\u2019 offer to to settle the case for US$47 million \u2013 which adjusted for inflation, is similar to the present settlement amount. That decision went against recommendations by CADE\u2019s investigative arm, which had urged the tribunal to agree a settlement, and instead followed an opinion by CADE\u2019s federal prosecutor, an internal body that can issue advisory opinions.<\/p>\n

The federal prosecutors office had said Brazil\u2019s competition laws at the time did not allow for settlements in cartel cases.<\/p>\n

As part of the settlement, the defendants have agreed to discontinue lawsuits challenging the legality of dawn raids CADE conducted in 2006. That appeal led to a 10-year judicial battle and multiple suspensions of CADE\u2019s investigation; most recently, Brazil\u2019s Superior Court of Justice had temporarily barred the agency from using evidence gathered in the dawn raids in its administrative proceedings pending the resolution of the appeals.<\/p>\n

A CADE spokesperson said administrative proceedings continue against Cambuhy Citrus, CTM Citrus, Frutax Agr\u00edcola and Montecitrus Group \u2013 four smaller orange juice producers that are also implicated in the alleged cartel.<\/p>\n

Joyce Honda at\u00a0Souza, Cescon, Barrieu & Flesch Advogados\u00a0in S\u00e3o Paulo said CADE\u2019s settlement programme is successful, as this is a record amount defendants have paid to settle a case with CADE. However, it seems that judicial battles can create obstacles for CADE, as it allows companies to \u201cbargain discounts in the negotiations\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

Bascitrus,\u00a0Cambuhy Citrus and CTM Citrus\u00a0could not be reached for comment, and the other companies did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0Cargill sold its Brazilian juice business to Cutrale in 2024, and in 2012 Citrosuco merged with Citrovita, creating the world\u2019s largest orange juice producer. Since the proceedings began, Louis Dreyfus has also acquired Coinbra.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson at Louis Dreyfus said the company actively cooperated with the enforcer throughout its investigation.<\/p>\n

CitrusBR, which has since taken over Abecitrus as the industry’s trade association, said it believes in peaceful relations between industries and suppliers.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the president of\u00a0Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Brasileira de Citricultores Fl\u00e1vio Viegas criticised the settlement, and said the payment was disproportionate to the losses experienced by orange farmers as a result of the alleged cartel.<\/p>\n

Counsel to\u00a0<\/strong><\/b><\/u>Coinbra-Frutesp<\/strong><\/b><\/u><\/p>\n

Mattos Engelberg Advogados
\nPartners Ubiratan Mattos and Fernando Engelberg de Moraes, and associate Andrea Astorga<\/p>\n

Counsel to Montecitrus Group<\/strong><\/b><\/p>\n

Franceschini e Miranda – Advogados
\nPartner Jos\u00e9 Inacio Gonzaga Franceschini in S\u00e3o Paulo<\/p>\n

Source:<\/em>\u00a0http:\/\/latinlawyer.com\/article\/1099305\/cade-breaks-settlement-record-in-longest-running-antitrust-case<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sorry, this entry is only available in Portugu\u00eas. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. CADE breaks settlement record in longest-running antitrust case Brazil\u2019s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) has approved a 300 million reais (\u20ac82.6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-imprensa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawmee.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}