Fresh produce companies could be entitled to claim for compensation amounting to as much as €1bn if, as expected, the European Commission rules later this year that airline companies operated a cartel in airfreight services to and from the EU between 1 January 2000 and 14 February 2007.
According to observers, it is only a matter of time before a ruling is made which confirms that alleged meetings between airline companies did indeed take place during the period in question, and that surcharges and fares were discussed during those meetings.
Antitrust regulators in the US, Australia and Canada have already made similar rulings, leading to airlines paying out millions of dollars in compensation to victims.
Two of Europe’s leading airfreight operators, meanwhile, British Airways and Air France-KLM, have already set aside a total of more than €900m to cover such claims. Others are understood to have taken similar precautionary measures.
For the fresh produce industry, the implications of the EU ruling could be considerable, with many suppliers and exporters expected to seek compensation.
“Fresh produce has been one of the biggest industries affected by the ruling,” says Peter Koutsoukis, managing director of Claims Funding International (CFI), which specialises in helping companies bring legitimate legal claims they would otherwise be unable to afford.
“In fresh produce, the biggest potential claimant we’ve seen is a major market group based in France, while another big group that we are working with in the UK spent some €7.8m on airfreight during that period.
“This is a very serious case. We are offering to underwrite legal proceedings against the airfreight operators, and over 300 companies have signed up to our group already,” he added.
The tenure of the current Commission expires on the 31 October, with 28 October the last full day for delivering a ruling before that date.
However, because the Treaty of Lisbon has not yet been ratified by all 27 EU member states, the EC will assume ‘caretaker’ status until 31 December.
It is thought ‘highly likely’ that the caretaker Commission will deliver the expected decision.
Should the EC confirm collusion took place, this will lead to the largest ever civil claim for cartel damages in Europe, with victims legally entitled to recover the overspend, reckoned to be around 10 per cent of the amount paid.
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