Division 9.2.1 Gravity of the processors’ infringement

The nature of the processors’ infringement is considered to be very serious, since it concerns the fixing of the prices of the varieties of Italian raw tobacco and the sharing of quantities. Buying cartels can in fact distort producers’ willingness to generate output as well as limit competition amongst processors in downstream markets. This is particularly so in cases like the present one, where the product affected by the buying cartel (raw tobacco) constitutes a substantial input of the activities carried out by participants downstream (the first processing and sale of processed tobacco in this case). The production of raw tobacco in Italy accounts for some 38 % of the Community in-quota production. The overall value of this production was Eur 67,338 million in 2001 (the last full year of infringement).