Dutch, German shrimp firms face fines

The European Commission has fined a group of four European North Sea shrimps traders a fine of €28.7 million for operating a cartel. European Commission / Flickr The group includes three Dutch companies Heiploeg, Klaas Puul, Kok Seafood and one German company Stührk. The cartel affected the EU market and sales in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands in particular. Heiploeg and Klaas Puul decided to fix prices and share sales volumes of North Sea shrimps in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands between June 2000 and January 2009. Kok Seafood participated from February 2005, while Stührk was involved in price fixing in Germany in the period from March 2003 to November 2007. The coordinated price level at which the retailer bought their shrimps directly affected the prices charged to the end-consumers, the European Commission said in a statement. These four companies have an estimated around 80% market share in the European Economic Area (EEA).