ADM

Archer Daniels appeal should be dismissed

A bid by Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world's largest grain processor, to overturn a 10.1 million-euro ($15.6 million) antitrust fine should be dismissed, an adviser to the European Union's highest court said today.

ADM's appeal should be dismissed “in its entirety,” Advocate General Verica Trstenjak of the European Court of Justice said in an advisory opinion today, rejecting all 12 of the company's arguments. The court follows the non-binding advice, at least in part, in a majority of cases.

ADM took the case to the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice in 2006 after losing an attempt to have a lower EU court cut the fine. The company was among five companies the European Commission fined in 2002 for rigging prices of sodium gluconate, a chemical mainly used to clean metal and glass.

The court adviser today said the lower EU court “decided in a manner free from errors of law” when it upheld the fine. In her 58-page opinion, Trstenjak said the European Court of First Instance “gave a sufficiently clear and unambiguous statement of reasons for its decision.”

The Court of First Instance, the second-highest EU court, on Sept. 27, 2006, ruled the EU fines were justified, rejecting appeals filed by ADM, Akzo Nobel NV and Avebe Group. Only Roquette Freres SA had its fine reduced to 8.1 million euros from 10.8 million euros. ADM is the only company to file second appeal.

The commission fined the companies a total of 37.1 million euros in March 2002, a year after levying 135.2 million euros on five companies in another chemicals cartel that also included Decatur, Illinois-based ADM. In that case the U.S. company was fined 39.7 million euros for colluding with rivals on prices of citric acid, a preservative used in beverages and food. ADM's appeal in that case is pending.

Spokespeople at ADM couldn't immediately be reached before office hours in the U.S.

(Published by Bloomberg 15, 2008)