Chile: Agriculture Committee calls out collusion on milk distribution

The Agriculture Committee of Chile’s congress, headed by Rep. Iván Flores (DC), filed a complaint against dairy distributors Soprole, Nestlé and Watt’s before the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) for possible collusion leading to lower pay for national milk producers. The companies are thought to have paid 22% less per liter of milk over the last 2 years, in addition to raising the price for consumers.

“In economics this is defined as a dominant and abusive position that harms both producers, who are on the verge of collapse, and consumers, making Chile – which has one of the best conditions in the world for producing milk – one of the lowest consumers of this product, “said Deputy Flores, the main promoter of the complaint.

“What we have today is a distorted market that is far from free competition. Chile is in a condition of oligopsony, that is, many producers and very few buyers, “he said.

Full Content: La Nación

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