Cartel fine for MASkargo
18 / 06 / 2012
AUSTRALIA’S Federal Court in Sydney fines MASkargo A$6m (US$5.9m) for price-fixing within an international cartel.
MASkargo admitted conspiring with other international carriers to fix general and security surcharges and customs fees on freight from Indonesia between 2001 and 2005, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US.
Proceedings against the remaining cartel members – Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways – are continuing.
“This sees the total penalties ordered against the cartel increase to a record A$58m ($57.8m),” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman, Rod Sims, says.
Sims adds that these are the most fines generated by a single ACCC investigation.
“It is crucial for the proper functioning of business in Australia that the ACCC continues to tackle cartel conduct with the full force of the law,” he says. “[It] is damaging and unlawful because it harms competition and usually inflates prices for consumers.”
