Canada fines Pfizer $1m for preservatives price fixing

24 October 2001 18:24  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (CNI)--Canada’s Competition Bureau announced Wednesday that Pfizer has been assessed a fine of Can$1.5 (1m/Eur1.1m) in a federal court for conspiring to fix prices in the food preservative industry.

In a statement today the bureau said that its investigation showed that Pfizer was involved in an international price fixing scheme from 1992 to 1994.

According to the Competition Bureau, Pfizer and its co-conspirators fixed prices for sodium erythorbate, a food preservative used to maintain colour and flavour in meat and other processed foods.

A spokesman for Montreal-based Pfizer Canada told CNI today that Pfizer's preservatives business was sold in 1996 and that no current Pfizer employees were involved in the actions alleged by the Competition Bureau.

The fine was imposed today in the federal court of Canada in Ottawa, the statement said. The Competition Bureau was not available for additional comment Wednesday.

New York City-based Pfizer was assessed a $20m penalty in 1999 for similar charges in the US.

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

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