EU fines freight firms $226 million in cartel case

[March 28, 2012]  BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's antitrust regulator says it has fined 14 freight companies -- including UPS and Kuehne & Nagel -- euro169 million ($226 million) for fixing prices for shipments from Europe.

The EU's Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Wednesday those companies ran four different cartels between 2002 and 2007, hurting individuals and companies sending goods to Asia, the U.S. and beyond.

Swiss-based Kuehne & Nagel received the biggest fine, euro53.7 million, while U.S.-based UPS has to pay euro9.8 million.

Almunia said Deutsche Post's DHL and Exel subsidiaries were not fined because they brought the cartels to the Commission's attention.

The commissioner added that, in a separate cartel case, nine European producers of mountings for windows were fined a total of euro86 million.

[Associated Press]

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