Having been looking for several years into possible anti-competitive practices on the part of agro-industrialists who have agreed not to communicate on the presence or absence of bisphenol A in their cans and cans, the Competition Authority has issued this Thursday his decision.
It fines three industrial unions (Fiac, Adepale and Ania) for nearly 20 million euros as well as that of can manufacturers (SNFBM) for having agreed to “prevent industrialists in the sector from compete on the question of the presence or absence of bisphenol A in food containers,” according to the decision rendered this Thursday.
In other words, for having established a strategy not to make the absence of bisphenol A a marketing argument. Eleven companies are also directly affected: the American Crown, Bonduelle, d’Aucy, Unilever (Axe, Rexona, etc.), Cofigeo (William Saurin, etc.) and the Charles compote specialists.
“The Authority considers that the practices (…) are very serious, because they deprived consumers of the ability to choose products without bisphenol A, at a time when such products were available and when this substance was already, at the time, considered dangerous for health,” explain the wise people of Rue de l’Échelle in a press release.
When contacted, Unilever declined to comment on the decision. For its part, the canned goods specialist Bonduelle claims to have marketed products with solutions without bisphenol A in its packaging since 2013, and plans to appeal the decision. Just like Adepale and Fiac, who “firmly” contest it.
