The Competition Tribunal ruled in favor of Sociedad Agrícola y Lechera de Loncoche S.A., currently Watt’s Alimentos S.A., and Sociedad de Productores de Leche S.A., in a complaint against Dictamen N° 1/96 of the Comisión Preventiva de la IX Región (IXth Region Preventative Commission), of May 28, 1996, rendering this ruling ineffective in all its parts.
Regarding the lawsuit by the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office against Nestlé Chile S.A., Parmalat Chile S.A., Soprole S.A., Watt’s Alimentos S.A. and Dos Alamos S.A., the Tribunal dismissed it, for lack of proof regarding the existence of an agreement to share out the market, refusal to buy and price agreements, as well as other conducts derived from those alleged agreements. Notwithstanding the dismissal, the Tribunal ordered a series of measures, because it considered that the market of acquisition and processing of bovine milk in Regions VII, IX and X suffered from lack of transparency.
Regarding the lawsuit against Nestlé Chile S.A., as legal continuator of Lechera del Sur S.A., the Tribunal only ruled in favor of the accusation of arbitrary price discrimination. The defendant had to pay a fine of 500 Monthly Tributary Units (around US$ 39,000).