The State Administration for Industry and Commerce imposes administrative penalties on Tetra Pak's abuse of market dominance in accordance with the law
Recently, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce imposed administrative penalties on Tetra Pak Group (Tetra Pak) related cases of abuse of market dominance in accordance with the law, and published the penalty decision on the website of the General Administration on November 16, 2016.
Tetra Pak originated in Sweden and was founded in 1951. It is a large multinational group that provides liquid food packaging equipment, technical services, packaging materials, and production line design solutions for liquid food manufacturers around the world.
The parties involved in the case include 6 Tetra Pak companies, of which Tetra Pak International Co., Ltd. is registered in Switzerland and is the operating headquarters of Tetra Pak Group, responsible for managing the group's global business operations; Tetra Pak China Co., Ltd. is registered in Hong Kong, China and is the operating headquarters of Tetra Pak Group in Greater China, responsible for comprehensively managing the group's business in China; Tetra Pak Packaging (Kunshan) Co., Ltd., Tetra Pak Packaging (Beijing) Co., Ltd., Tetra Pak Packaging (Foshan) Co., Ltd. and Tetra Pak Packaging (Hohhot) Co., Ltd. are registered in mainland China, mainly engaged in the production and sales of liquid food paper-based sterile packaging equipment and technical services, and packaging materials in the mainland China market.
According to the report, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce filed a case against Tetra Pak for suspected monopoly in January 2012 and conducted a comprehensive and in-depth investigation that lasted for more than four years. During this period, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce retrieved documentary and electronic data from the parties and related companies through on-site inspections, market questionnaires, inquiry and investigations, and conducted in-depth research and demonstration and expert consultation on professional and technical, economics, and legal issues involved in the case. It also communicated with the parties face to face many times, and the parties also made sufficient statements.
According to the survey, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce believes that between 2009 and 2013, Tetra Pak had a dominant market position in the three markets of liquid food paper-based sterile packaging equipment (hereinafter referred to as equipment), technical services (hereinafter referred to as technical services), and paper-based sterile packaging materials (hereinafter referred to as packaging materials). From 2009 to 2013, Tetra Pak, relying on its dominant position in the equipment market and technical service market, bundled packaging materials in the process of providing equipment and technical services; relying on its dominant position in the packaging material market, hindered raw material paper suppliers from providing raw material paper to its competitors by restricting raw material paper suppliers from cooperating with its competitors and restricting the use of relevant technical information from raw material paper suppliers; relying on its dominant position in the packaging material market, it implemented loyal discounts that excluded and restricted competition, such as traceable cumulative sales discounts and personalized procurement volume target discounts, hindered fair competition in the packaging material market.
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce determined that Tetra Pak's above-mentioned behavior violated the relevant provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China and constituted the provisions of Article 17, Paragraph 1, Paragraphs (4), (5) and (7) of the Law without justifiable reasons for bundling, no justifiable reasons for limiting transactions and other abuses of market dominance. According to the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ordered Tetra Pak to stop its illegal activities, including not selling packaging materials without proper reasons when providing equipment and technical services, not restricting packaging material base paper suppliers from supplying beef coating liquid white paper to third parties without proper reasons, and not formulating and implementing loyalty discounts that exclude or restrict competition in the packaging material market; imposing a fine of RMB 667724176.88.
Click to view the original text of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce:
Click to view the competition law enforcement announcement of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce:
Competition Law Enforcement Announcement No. 10, Tetra Pak Abuse of Market Dominance Case