021013 NY Seeks Food Price-Fixing FinesOctober 7, 2002Albany, NY -New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is suing to collect overpayments by New York consumers resulting from a global price-fixing conspiracy on a common preservative in yogurt, baked goods, processed foods, meats and soft drinks. "This lawsuit seeks to recover damages to New York consumers for years of illegal price-fixing," Spitzer said Friday. He would not estimate how much he would seek in restitution from the 10 foreign and domestic companies. Any restitution would likely go to consumer organizations. The suit announced Friday is the first to come from a multistate investigation into the price consumers paid for the sorbate price-fixing conspiracy cracked in 1998 by the U.S. Justice Department, said Assistant Attorney General Gary Weinstein. The investigation continues by New York, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Connecticut, he said. Two years ago, the Justice Department showed the firms held meetings from Vienna to Tokyo to set the price of the additive sorbate in the global market and to allocate market shares. Federal officials said the conspiracy affected $1 billion in sales made between 1979 and 1997. In the federal action, five major manufacturers of sorbates pleaded guilty to criminal charges and paid fines totaling $132 million. Five of the 10 manufacturers and marketers of sorbates named in Spitzer's suit have previously pleaded guilty in the conspiracy to federal officials, said Spitzer spokesman Marc Violette. An attorney representing several of the defendants, Manhattan lawyer Herbert Washer, didn't return a call seeking comment. Among the primary defendants in Spitzer's suit are: - Daicel Chemical Industries Ltd. of Tokyo, which in 2000 agreed to plead guilty to price fixing and pay a $53 million fine. - Nippon Goshei, a Japanese chemical company also known as Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., which agreed to plead guilty in 2000 and pay a $21 million criminal fine. A former executive agreed to plead guilty and pay a $350,000 fine. - Eastman Chemical Co. of Kingsport, Tenn., which pleaded guilty in 1999 and was fined $11 million. - German pharmaceutical giant Hoechst Aktiengesellshaft, which pleaded guilty in 2000 and was fined $36 million. - Ueno Fine Chemicals Industry of Osaka, Japan, which Spitzer said also was convicted in the federal probe. Any fine paid wasn't available Friday. The other firms are: Celanese AG of Kronberg im Taunus, Germany; Hoechst Celanese Corp., or CNA Holdings, of Warren, N.J.; Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties & Food Ingredients of Frankfurt, Germany.; Aventis, S.A. of Stasbourg, France; Nutrinova Inc. of Somerset, N.J. Annual international sales of sorbates is about $200 million. Some sorbates are also used in medications, cosmetics and toiletries as well as other nonfood products.
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