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Belgium charges cigarette makers for exchanging information on prices By Reuters

by Mike Robinson

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© Reuters. FILEPHOTO: Lucky Strike cigarettes can be seen being manufactured in Bayreuth’s British American Tobacco Cigarette Factory, Bayreuth Germany (April 30, 2014). REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo

By Marine Strauss

BRUSSELS (Reuters), – Friday’s announcement by the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA), stated that it had filed charges against four cigarette companies for violating competition laws through exchanging information on future prices with wholesalers.

According to the authority, these were subsidiaries of Philip Morris (NYSE), Imperial Brands and (OTC) respectively. Japan Tobacco British American Tobacco and (OTC) account for 90 percent of Belgium’s cigarette consumption.

The BCA stated in an email statement that “the competition prosecutor alleges there was anti-competitive practice which lasted several years” and included repeated exchanges information about their future prices via wholesalers.

The wholesalers provided them with information about the prices that competitors would be paying in the future, it said.

In May 2017, a formal investigation began. Raids were conducted a month later to complete the investigation.

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