Mowi contests EU Commission’s antitrust allegations.
The world’s largest producer of farmed Atlantic salmon, Mowi announced on Thursday 25 January it has received a Statement of Objections from the European Commission following inspections conducted in February 2019.
The statement from the EU suggests that Mowi, along with several other Norwegian salmon producers, may have breached trading bloc’s competition rules.
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“Mowi contests the Commission’s preliminary view and the characteristics of the alleged behaviour in the market for farmed Norwegian Atlantic salmon, and strongly believes there has been no infringement of the competition rules,” wrote the company in a statement issued on Thursday,
In response to the Commission’s allegations, Mowi intends to conduct a detailed review of the Statement of Objections and will provide a written reply as part of the standard procedure. The company emphasized that the issuance of a Statement of Objections and the initiation of a formal investigation do not imply a conclusive judgment on the matter.
The European Commission will make a final decision on whether the alleged behavior constitutes a violation of EU competition rules only after the parties involved have exercised their rights of defense.
