EU Investigating Snack Producer for Potential Trade, Competition Violations

The European Commission is investigating whether a food and snack producer violated competition rules by hindering “trade flows” in the European Union, a Jan. 28 news release said. Mondelez, one of the EU’s largest producers of chocolate, biscuits and coffee, may be restricting the “parallel trade” of its goods between member states through agreements and other “unilateral practices,” the EC said. Restrictions on parallel trade can “lead to the isolation of a national market whereby the manufacturer or supplier can charge higher prices to the detriment of consumers,” it said.