EU Fines Packaging Producers Crown & Silgan

The European Commission has fined Crown and Silgan a total of €31.5 million for participating in a cartel concerning sales of metal cans and closures in Germany. Both companies admitted their involvement in the infringement and agreed to settle the case.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Metal food cans and closures are part of every household’s pantry. We fine today Crown and Silgan for illegally exchanging sensitive business information and coordinating their commercial strategies at a time when the industry has been transitioning towards less harmful metal cans and closures.”

The products concerned by the cartel are metal closures otherwise called ‘lids’, coated with BPA-free lacquers or BPA-containing lacquers which are predominantly used to close glass jars containing foods such as marmalade, vegetables, fruit, meat or fish as well as metal cans also referred as ‘containers’ coated with BPA-free lacquers which are used to pack, transport and stock sterilised foods such as vegetables, fruit, meat, fish or juice.

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