Spain: Regulator puts end to overseas movers’ cartel

Spain’s antitrust and market regulator CNMC has issued a 4.9 million euro fine on 15 companies specializing in international movers and shipping serices. The agency has found evidence of a 15-year scheme through which companies would cobble their competition-breaking agenda through a so-called “mover’s agreement”, usually worked out during annually-held dinners and lunch meetings.

The CNMC has accused the companies of engaging in market manipulation involving various violations to competition law, including: The setting of quotas, with a percentage of customers allotted to each company; respect for shipping routes, which would be modified and adapted according to the companies’ changing needs, conflicts and administrative relations; and schemes for avoiding direct competition for certain customers- specifically, the agreements would target government agencies and other State customers.

The cartel is expected to have significantly increased the costs for State agencies over the 15-year period, with up to 12,000 euros above the margin in some cases, and often inflating prices by over 50% of the original budget. These increased costs would have negatively affected public finances, causing harm to consumers across the country.

Full Content: CNMC

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