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A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas.
Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given level by controlling supply and demand.
Danfoss is a Danish multinational company, based in Denmark, with more than 41,928 employees globally. Danfoss was founded in 1933 by engineer Mads Clausen.
In 2002, the United States Department of Justice, under the Sherman Antitrust Act, began a probe into the activities of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) manufacturers in response to claims by US computer makers, including Dell and Gateway, that inflated DRAM pricing was causing lost profits and hindering their effectiveness in the marketplace.
The lysine price-fixing conspiracy was an organized effort during the mid-1990s to raise the price of the animal feed additive lysine. It involved five companies that had commercialized high-tech fermentation technologies, including American company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Japanese companies Ajinomoto and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, and Korean companies Sewon America Inc. and Cheil Jedang Ltd. A criminal investigation resulted in fines and three-year prison sentences for three executives of ADM who colluded with the other companies to fix prices. The foreign companies settled with the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division in September through December 1996. Each firm and four executives from the Asian firms pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain to aid in further investigation against ADM. The cartel had been able to raise lysine prices 70% within their first nine months of cooperation.
The Autorité de la concurrence is France's national competition regulator. Its predecessor, the Competition Council, was established in the 1950s. The Competition Authority is an Independent administrative authority, responsible for preventing anti-competitive practices and monitoring the functioning of markets. It aims to ensure respect for the law linked "to the defense of a sufficient market competition".
This is a partial list of notable price fixing and bid rigging cases.
Christmas tree production occurs worldwide on Christmas tree farms, in artificial tree factories and from native strands of pine and fir trees. Christmas trees, pine and fir trees purposely grown for use as a Christmas tree, are grown on plantations in many western nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Australia, the industry is relatively new, and nations such as the United States, Germany and Canada are among world leaders in annual production.
Christmas tree cultivation is an agricultural, forestry, and horticultural occupation which involves growing pine, spruce, and fir trees specifically for use as Christmas trees.
Pine and fir trees, grown purposely for use as Christmas trees, are vulnerable to a wide variety of pests, weeds and diseases. Many of the conifer species cultivated face infestations and death from such pests as the balsam woolly adelgid and other adelgids. Aphids are another common insect pest. Christmas trees are also vulnerable to fungal pathogens and their resultant illnesses such as root rot, and, in the U.S. state of California, sudden oak death. Douglas-fir trees in particular are vulnerable to infections from plant pathogens such as R. pseudotsugae.
While the first Christmas tree farm may have appeared as early as 1901, Christmas tree production in the United States was largely limited to what could be harvested from natural forests until the 1950s. Among the important Christmas tree producing areas in the U.S. are Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest. In 2002 Christmas tree production in the United States totaled 20.8 million trees and the U.S. was one of the world's leading producers of natural Christmas trees. That same year, Pennsylvania was the top producer in the United States.
Christmas tree production in Canada totals from 3 to 6 million trees annually. Trees are produced in many of the provinces of Canada but the nation's leading producers are found in Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario, which account for 80 percent of Canadian tree production. Of the 900,000 trees produced annually in British Columbia, most are cut from native pine stands.
The National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) is a professional organization in the United States of over 5,100 "Christmas tree professionals" in various capacities. The group focuses its work into three areas: promotion and research, federal representation, and professional education. The association was founded in 1955 and has more than 1,800 members.
By 2008 Christmas tree production in Denmark totalled around 9 million trees and Denmark was one of Europe's largest producers of natural Christmas trees. By far the most popular species grown in Denmark is the sought after Nordmann fir. Between 1999 and 2007 Danish tree production jumped from 6-7 million trees annually to 9-12 million trees annually. In 2009 the Danish Christmas Tree Growers Association (DCTGA) was convicted in a price fixing scheme that resulted in fines for the association and its executives.
The system access fee is a non-governmental surcharge imposed by most Canadian telephone companies on their customers' monthly bills. Although it is normally charged for wireless services, Rogers Communications and the now-defunct Sprint Canada also charged its home phone customers a system access fee.
Attack of the Mutant Artificial Trees is a free online video game developed as part of a marketing campaign by the National Christmas Tree Association in 2004. The game was meant to support the natural Christmas tree industry and received criticism from artificial tree producers. It has been described as similar to Whac-A-Mole.
United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co., 310 U.S. 150 (1940), is a 1940 United States Supreme Court decision widely cited for the proposition that price-fixing is illegal per se. The Socony case was, at least until recently, the most widely cited case on price fixing.
Director of Public Prosecutions v Pat Hegarty is an Irish Supreme Court case in which the court confirmed that officers/key employees of undertakings involved in anti-competitive practices in Ireland may be prosecuted and convicted for their involvement, regardless of whether the undertaking itself has been prosecuted.
The TFT-LCD Antitrust Litigation was a United States class-action lawsuit regarding the worldwide conspiracy to coordinate the prices of Thin-Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels, which are used to make laptop computers, computer monitors and televisions, between 1999 and 2006. In March 2010, Judge Susan Illston certified two nationwide classes of persons and entities that directly and indirectly purchased TFT-LCDs – for panel purchasers and purchasers of TFT-LCD integrated products; the litigation was followed by multiple suits.
The Competition Commission is the independent statutory body charged with regulating competition in Hong Kong. It was established under the Competition Ordinance, enacted in June 2012, which aims to prohibit conduct that prevents, restricts or distorts competition, and to prohibit mergers that substantially lessen competition in Hong Kong.
References
- 1 2 3 "In Denmark, price fixing on Christmas trees?", USA Today via Associated Press , December 20, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- 1 2 3 Tagliabue, John. "Denmark: Christmas-Tree Growers Face Cartel Charges", The New York Times , December 20, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- ↑ Cockcroft, Lucy and Simpson, Aislinn. "Danish accused of Christmas tree price fix", The Telegraph , December 20, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- ↑ Frampton, John and McKinley, Craig. "Christmas Trees and Greenery in Denmark: Production and Tree Improvement Archived 2007-10-10 at the Wayback Machine ," American Christmas Tree Journal, 1999, Vol. 43(2):4-11, accessed September 23, 2012.
- 1 2 "The Danish Supreme Court Increases Fines for Price Fixing", Eversheds , September 30, 2010, accessed September 23, 2012.
- 1 2 "Christmas tree growers in Denmark are needled by price fixing probe", independent.ie , December 20, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- 1 2 Bertleson, Erik, and others. "Denmark Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine ", (pdf, book chapter), from Competition Law, Aspen Publishers, 2011, p. Denmark-85, ( ISBN 9789041133687), accessed September 23, 2012.
- 1 2 "Danish Christmas-Tree Growers Face Cartel Charges (Update1)", December 18, 2007, Bloomberg , accessed September 23, 2012.
- ↑ "Danes chop down tree cartel Archived 2013-09-27 at the Wayback Machine ", canada.com via Ottawa Citizen , December 19, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- ↑ Anderson, Robert. "Fir flies as Xmas tree growers are charged with price fixing, Financial Times , December 19, 2007, accessed September 23, 2012.
- ↑ "History", Danish Christmas Tree Growers Association, official site, accessed September 23, 2012.