Tesco UK Dairy Fixing Fine Cut to £6.5m

Tesco Plc, Britain's biggest retailer, will pay a reduced GB£6.5 million pound penalty to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), after the parties reached a settlement on a price-fixing probe.

27 Feb 2013 --- The OFT in 2011 had concluded that Tesco participated in fixing the retail price of cheese in 2002 and 2003, and it originally fined the company £10.4 million.

The OFT announced that Tesco's appeal in relation to the OFT's 2011 Dairy Retail Price Initiatives decision has been brought to an end by Order of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) as agreed between the parties.

The CAT upheld the OFT's findings that Tesco broke competition law three times by co-ordinating increases in the prices consumers paid for cheese in 2002.

The CAT also found that Tesco did not infringe the law in relation to a number of other findings of exchanges of future pricing information.

The Order follows the CAT's judgment issued on 20 December 2012 in relation to Tesco's appeal against the OFT's decision.

Tesco commented on the OFT announcement: “Tesco is pleased that it has today settled the Dairy competition appeal with the OFT. Tesco will pay a reduced penalty of £6.5 million in respect of three infringements of competition law that took place in 2002. The other findings of the OFT against Tesco have been dismissed.”