European and Italian antitrust officials made surprise
visits at Cargill offices in Italy, said Francis DeRosa, a spokesman for Cargill
in Cobham, England.
The European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, carried out inspections in two countries, the agency said in a statement. "We have provided and will continue to provide full cooperation," DeRosa said last Thursday. Commodity prices have advanced for six consecutive years, with wheat, corn, rice and other foods reaching records this year. World food imports will cost a record $1.04 trillion this year, $215 billion more than last year, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
Officials also inspected the Rome office of Bunge's Italian subsidiary, a spokesman, Stewart Lindsay, said in an e-mail. He said Bunge is committed to compliance with all European Union laws and will cooperate fully. Companies can be fined as much as 10 percent of annual sales for antitrust violations. Decisions may be appealed to European courts in Luxembourg.
"Surprise inspections are a preliminary step in investigations into suspected cartels," the commission said in the statement. The inspections were made at the premises of traders and distributors of products for human food and animal feed, it said. Archer Daniels Midland, the world's largest publicly traded grain processor, said in a statement Thursday that its offices were not raided.
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The European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, carried out inspections in two countries, the agency said in a statement. "We have provided and will continue to provide full cooperation," DeRosa said last Thursday. Commodity prices have advanced for six consecutive years, with wheat, corn, rice and other foods reaching records this year. World food imports will cost a record $1.04 trillion this year, $215 billion more than last year, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
Officials also inspected the Rome office of Bunge's Italian subsidiary, a spokesman, Stewart Lindsay, said in an e-mail. He said Bunge is committed to compliance with all European Union laws and will cooperate fully. Companies can be fined as much as 10 percent of annual sales for antitrust violations. Decisions may be appealed to European courts in Luxembourg.
"Surprise inspections are a preliminary step in investigations into suspected cartels," the commission said in the statement. The inspections were made at the premises of traders and distributors of products for human food and animal feed, it said. Archer Daniels Midland, the world's largest publicly traded grain processor, said in a statement Thursday that its offices were not raided.
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