Antitrust fine on pasta makers in Italy

The Italian antitrust authority has fined 26 pasta manufacturers a combined total of E12.5m, for practices that were said to be impeding competition.

 The regulator said the companies, along
with local pasta makers union Unipi, have been following an agreement
referring to their price policy which hampers the market competition.
The agreement was in force between October 2006 and March 2008.
The
fined companies account for around 90% of the domestic market, but
also big international companies also have to pay. Barilla, the
world's biggest pasta maker, was handed the largest fine, 5.7 million
euros, for the price-fixing scheme. In a statement, Barilla called
the ruling "baseless" and said it would appeal.