Canada competition watchdog fines Japan's Toyo Tire
10/12/2015 24:00
TORONTO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Canada's Competition watchdog
said on Wednesday it has fined Japanese car and truck tire maker
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co 5105.T C$1.7 million for its alleged
participation in an international bid-rigging conspiracy.
The Competition Bureau said the bid-rigging conspiracy is
tied to the supply of anti-vibration components to Toyota Motor
Corp 7203.T .
The independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures
businesses operate competitively said its investigation found
that between June 2004 and August 2006, Toyo engaged in secret
pacts with other suppliers of anti-vibration parts in response
to requests for quotes issued by Toyota for certain Corolla, RAV
4 and Lexus models.
Toyo Tire was not immediately reachable for comment.
To date, the Bureau's investigation involving motor vehicle
components has resulted in some eight guilty pleas and over C$58
million in fines imposed by the courts since April 2013.
The fine comes just a day after John Pecman, the head of the
agency vowed that the Bureau would not go soft on cartel and
bid-rigging cases, despite a couple of setbacks in some recent
cases.
Last month, Canadian prosecutors dropped proceedings against
the local arm of Nestle NESN.VX in a multi-year investigation
into alleged price-fixing of chocolate products. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N13D0X0
Canada had charged Nestle and others in 2013 with colluding
to fix the price of chocolate. At the time, the Bureau
recommended lenient treatment for the Canadian arm of Hershey
Co, which cooperated with the investigation and reached a deal
to plead guilty to a single count of price fixing.
"Cracking down on cartels has been, and continues to be, a
top priority for the Bureau," said Pecman in a speech at law
firm Goodmans in Toronto on Tuesday.
"We have had some setbacks. I won't pretend otherwise. But a
Chicken Little reaction that 'the sky is falling' is a wholly
inappropriate response," he said.
(Reporting by Euan Rocha; Editing by David Gregorio)
((euan.rocha@thomsonreuters.com; +1-416-941-8185; Reuters
Messaging: euan.rocha.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: TOYO TIRE & RUB ANTITRUST/CANADA