London
CNN
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Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, has been fined €337.5 million ($366 million) for hindering the trade of chocolate, cookies and coffee between European Union countries.
“In today’s decision, we find that that Mondelez illegally limited cross-border sales across the EU. Mondelez did so to maintain higher prices for its products to the detriment of consumers,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement Thursday.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, found that Mondelez International (MDLZ) deliberately restricted cross-border trade and abused “its dominant position” in some national markets for the sale of chocolate bars.
Among other things, the company had ceased supplying chocolate bars in the Netherlands to prevent them from being imported into Belgium, where Mondelez was selling the same products at higher prices, the Commission said in the statement.
“The Commission concluded that Mondelez’s illegal practices prevented retailers from being able to freely source products in (EU) member states with lower prices,” it added.
A spokesperson for Mondelez International said the penalty related to “isolated incidents, most of which ceased or were remedied well in advance of the Commission’s investigation.”
“This historical matter is not representative of who we are and the strong culture of compliance for which we strive … This is why we will continue to place emphasis on our overall compliance culture and have strengthened our annual mandatory compliance program to reflect learnings,” the spokesperson added.
The company made an accrual for the fine in 2023 and no further measures will be necessary to finance it.
This story has been updated with additional information.