Reuters: Regulatory News: China probes foreign infant milk firms for anti-trust violations

Changes are afoot at Blogtrottr! By popular request, we're bringing in paid plans with some cool new features (and more on the way). You can read all about it in our blog post.

Reuters: Regulatory News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

China probes foreign infant milk firms for anti-trust violations Jul 2nd 2013, 06:14 SHANGHAI, July 2 | Tue Jul 2, 2013 2:14am EDT SHANGHAI, July 2 (Reuters) - Five foreign infant milk formula companies are under investigation by China's top economic planning agency for possible antitrust violations, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday quoting sources. The article said Nestle SA, Abbott Laboratories , Mead Johnson Nutrition Co, Danone's Dumex brand and Wyeth Nutrition are under investigation by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for possible price-fixing behavior and anticompetitive practices. Nestle said in an email it was cooperating with the investigation. Mead Johnson China-based spokeswoman Ronny Li said the firm had provided information to the NDRC. Wyeth Nutrition spokeswoman Winnie Wang confirmed the investigation was taking place and said the company was cooperating. Abbott Laboratories and Dumex could not be reached for comment. Officials at the NDRC were not available to comment. Foreign infant formula is a highly coveted item in China after a 2008 tainted infant formula scandal that left at least six children dead damaged public trust. Foreign brands now account for about half of total sales. The Beijing Times said the investigations came to light after a Hong Kong-listed infant nutrition manufacturer Biostime International Holdings said last Thursday that its Guangzhou unit was under investigation by the NDRC for an alleged violation of China anti-monopoly law. "The main purpose of the investigation is in relation to an alleged violation of Article 14 of Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China by Biostime Guangzhou in managing the market sales prices at which the distributors and retail sales organizations sell our products," the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions