The Competition Commission of Mauritius (CCM) has imposed fines totalling Rs1.4 million on five producers of deer in Mauritius, found to have breached section 41 of the Competition Act 2007 (the Act) by agreeing to fix the price at which they supply deer/venison to a meat processor in Mauritius.
The producers are Agria Ltd, Alteo Agri Ltd, Constance La Gaiete Co Ltd, Medine Ltd and Ferney Limited.
Section 41 of the Act prohibits agreements between competitors on the price at which they sell their products or services.
Collusive agreements
The CCM’s investigation revealed that the five companies had participated in collusive agreements to fix their selling price when supplying deer meat to Panagora Marketing Co. Ltd (Panagora), which operates as meat processor and wholesale distributor of venison.
While the MDFCS became dormant in 2014, the members of the MDFCS pursued the collective supply to Panagora during the hunting season and the closed season for the period 2015 – 2019.
During that period the parties have, on a yearly basis agreed on a common price to be offered to Panagora.
The investigation thus concluded that the parties participated in collusive agreement which is prohibited under section 41 of the Act. Since Société de Palmyre had stopped its deer farming activities in the year 2012 and exited the market, it was not concerned with the finding of breach.
Penalties
Besides the financial penalties, the Competition Commission also imposed upon the five parties to cease their infringements.
According to the CCM, the five companies did not challenge the findings. This was considered as a mitigation factor.
The CCM directed the parties to put an end to any collaboration among themselves in respect of pricing when supplying to Panagora or to any other party; and to refrain from repeating or engaging in any act or conduct which involves discussion on pricing or the sharing of information on price for the supply of deer meat.
Agria Ltd was fined Rs 213,542, Alteo Agri Ltd was fined Rs 81,716, Constance La Gaiete Co Ltd was fined Rs 86,460, Ferney Limited was fined Rs 116,117 and Médine Ltd was fined Rs 947,570.
Source: Competition Commission of Mauritius
