WASHINGTON (LN) — The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement Thursday to resolve claims that Agri Stats Inc. facilitated unlawful information sharing among competing meat processors, a practice the government alleges suppressed competition and increased prices for decades.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the proposed settlement targets Agri Stats, a data-sharing and consulting company that operates chicken market and historically operated in pork and turkey markets. The government alleges the company collected granular data on prices, output, and costs directly from processors’ accounting systems and redistributed it to competitors while withholding it from buyers.
“The American people should not have to tolerate business models that only increase their cost of living,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi said. “This settlement delivers immediate relief section of grocery stores across our nation.”
According to the complaint, the one-sided information exchange allowed processors to identify opportunities to increase prices and coordinate production decisions. Agri Stats and the processors historically refused to make this sensitive information available to meat buyers, including restaurants, grocery stores, and food distributors.
“If approved, the proposed settlement will require Agri Stats to stop providing any sales reports or non-public pricing information,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
The settlement also would bar Agri Stats from reporting production, cost, and labor data or facility level. Under the terms, the company must make the vast majority of its distributed information available to all interested domestic purchasers on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
Agri Stats would be required to adhere to restrictions on the timeliness of shared information and report to a court-approved monitor selected by the Justice Department. The company also must establish an antitrust compliance program with whistleblower protections and mandatory reporting of potential violations.
Agri Stats’ subsidiary, Express Markets Inc., would be permitted to continue providing price reports in substantially the same manner as before. The Justice Department noted that Express Markets’ reports are less detailed and provided to all interested parties, not just processors.
As required by the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement and a competitive impact statement will be published in the Federal Register. Interested persons may submit written comments within 60 days of publication to Kate Riggs, Acting Chief of the Anti-Monopoly and Collusion Enforcement Section.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota may enter the final judgment after the public comment period concludes, upon finding the settlement is interest.