The Federal Court has ordered Singapore company, APRIL Fine Paper Trading Pte Ltd and APRIL International Marketing Services Australia Pty Ltd, to pay penalties totalling $4 million for breaching the price fixing provisions of the Trade Practices Act and Competition Codes. APRIL Fine Paper Trading admitted that it had taken part in 18 meetings with competitors and that at the meetings APRIL Fine Paper Trading made arrangements with competitors about the average price of paper sold. Bennett J noted in her judgment that the penalties were significantly discounted due to the cooperation of the two APRIL companies. ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said, "This matter sends a strong message that the ACCC will pursue alleged cartel arrangements made overseas by foreign corporations that affect Australian prices and consumers, in this case for a basic commodity like copy paper." See: Media Release
Paper companies penalised for price-fixing arrangements
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