A group of vegetable traders and importers were sued by the Enforcement Office of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for entering into anti-competitive agreements for supplying imported onions in the Philippines.
In the Statement of Objections (SO) filed with the Commission on July 9, 2024, several companies were charged for violating Section 14(b)(2) and Section 14(c) of Republic Act No. 10667, or the Philippine Competition Act.
Under the Philippine Competition Act, markets are expected to be open and free, fostering anti-competitive business practices, “while maintaining an environment where competition is driven by business acumen.”
The companies charged for violating RA 10667 are:
- Philippine Vieva Group of Companies, Inc. (Phil. Vieva Group)
- Tian Long Corp. (Tian Long)
- La Reina Fresh Vegetables & Young Indoor Plants, Inc. (La Reina)
- Yom Trading Corporation (Yom Trading)
- Vegetable Importers, Exporters & Vendors Association of the Philippines (VIEVA Phils.)
- Golden Shine International Freight Forwarders Corp. (Golden Shine)
Additionally, 12 individual respondents from the listed companies were identified and charged by the PCC.
The PCC specified the reasons for their charges as:
- Allocating the supply of imported onions by assigning among themselves Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSICs) issued by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI) and dividing among themselves the volume of onion allowed to be imported; and colluding to lessen competition by exchanging sensitive business information such as price, suppliers, customers, volume, shipping, distribution, and storage.
- Investigations found that the traders conspired to manipulate the onion market in the country from 2019 to 2023, despite being competitors. The Enforcement Office claimed that they collectively controlled the onions’ prices, leading to reduced market competition. They also distorted supplies and increased the artificial prices, which eventually harmed the consumers.
Pieces of evidence were gathered through the PCC’s administrative search and inspection of the involved parties in September 2023. The dawn raid was conducted under the Rules on Administrative Search and Inspection (RASI) issued by the Supreme Court in 2019.
Voluminous documents, records, and electronic data related to the trading activities were collected from the dawn raid.
“Under the PCA, entities found to have engaged in anti-competitive agreements may be fined at least PhP 110 million. However, if the violation involves a basic necessity or prime commodity, such as onions, the fine may be tripled according to Section 41 of the PCA and Section 6.5 of the PCC’s Rules of Procedure. In this case, given the duration of the collusive agreement and the involvement of a basic commodity, the Enforcement Office recommended approximately PhP 2.4 billion in total fine,” the PCC ended.
