The ham section of a supermarket in Nîmes. – SYLVAIN THOMAS / AFP
- The Cooperl obtained a stay of payment of the fine of 35 million euros which was imposed on it in the so-called “ham cartel” case.
- The Breton cooperative has been condemned along with other ham and charcuterie manufacturers for price agreements.
- The Cooperl appealed against its conviction which is based on a “false document” according to it.
The Cooperl bought some time before going to checkout. The French leader in the pork industry has in fact obtained a suspension of the payment of the heavy fine of 35.5 million euros which had been imposed on him in the so-called “ham cartel” case. By a judgment delivered on Tuesday, “the first president of the Paris Court of Appeal granted the companies Cooperl Arc Atlantique and Brocéliande ALH the suspension of the execution of decision 20-D-09 rendered on July 16 by the” Competition Authority in the so-called ham cartel case, ”Cooperl said on Wednesday in a press release.
“By the effect of this decision, Cooperl and Brocéliande will not have to pay the fine pending the decision on the merits of the Paris Court of Appeal before which the case is currently pending” , specified the Cooperl. In mid-July, the Competition Authority had imposed penalties on twelve ham and charcuterie manufacturers a total of 93 million euros, for price agreements that took place between 2010 and 2013. The highest fine, amounting to 35.5 million euros, is the responsibility of the cooperative group based in Lamballe (Côtes-d’Armor), which appealed.
A conviction based on a “false document” according to Cooperl
A few months later, on October 20, the Cooperl had raised the threat of plant closures if it did not obtain a stay for the payment of the fine in this case in which it claims its innocence. The Ministry of the Economy promised the next day that the terms of payment of the fine do not call into question the survival of the company.
“Cooperl and Brocéliande have always protested their innocence in this case and recall that they have also lodged a complaint for forgery, use of forgery, slanderous denunciation and fraud in judgment against their whistleblower, requesting leniency” , recalled this Wednesday the Cooperl. The group maintains that its conviction is based on a “false document”, the notebook of a commercial director of the company Aosta, a subsidiary of the Spanish group Campofrio, now owned by the Mexican multinational Sigma.