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Watchdog: Japanese car shipping firm faces 10 extra charges

Cape Town - Japanese car shipping company – Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line) – is facing ten more charges after it was recently referred to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution for collusive tendering, price fixing and market division.

The Competition Commission in a statement on Monday said it has referred ten more charges against K-Line to the Tribunal for adjudication. 

In addition, the Commission is seeking administrative penalties of 10% of the company’s annual turnover for each of the additional ten charges.

According to K-Line’s financial highlights published on its website, the company’s operating revenue for the nine months ended December 2016 was $6 532 168 000. 

In March this year the Commission referred its first case against K-Line to the Tribunal. The matter relates to price fixing, market division and collusive tendering practices involving the transportation of cars produced by Toyota South Africa Motors, by sea. 

READ: Commission clamps down on Toyota transport cartel 

The Competition Commission said the latest charges include collusive activities around: 

- 2011 involving a tender issued by Toyota Motors Asia Pacific to transport Toyota vehicles from India to South Africa by sea;
- 2002 in relation to tenders issued by Toyota Motor Corporation and Ford Motor Company to transport Toyota and Ford cars from Japan to West Africa and South Africa to West Africa by sea; 
- 2008 relating to a tender issued by BMW for the transportation of BMW cars from South Africa to North America by sea and with regard to tenders issued by Daimler to transport Mercedes motor vehicles from South Africa to North America by sea; and
- 2010 in respect of tenders issued by Honda to transport Honda cars from Thailand to South Africa by sea. 

READ: Competition watchdog to get sharper teeth 

The charges also include K-Line’s involvement in prohibited practices that relate to:

- a tender issued by Mitshubishi Motor Company to transport Mitshubishi cars from Japan and Thailand to South Africa; 
- a tender issued by Nissan to transport their cars from India to South Africa by sea; 
- a global tender issued by Nissan Motor Corporation (through its purchasing company, Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation) around 2009 for the shipment of Nissan cars from South Africa to Europe (including North Africa and the Mediterranean) by sea;
- prohibited practices during or about 2011-2013, in respect of a tender issued by Maruti Suzuki for the transportation of Suzuki motor vehicles from India to Africa (including South Africa) by sea; and
- prohibited practices around 2006 involving a tender issued by Suzuki (through its trading arm Sojitz Logistics) for the transportation of Suzuki cars from Japan to South Africa by sea.

To date, three companies have paid a total of more than R215m in administrative penalties in the matter, the Commission said. 

“In 2015 and 2016 NYK, WWL and Eukor Car Carriers (Eukor) admitted to colluding on these tenders and settled with the Commission.”  

MOL, another Japanese company, was not fined as it was first to approach the Commission and cooperated. MOL, NYK, WWL and Eukor will cooperate with the Commission in prosecuting K-Line.

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