Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio

The Administrative Court of Cundinamarca, a first instance court, confirmed the sanction imposed by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce in 2015 to INGENIO CARMELITA SA, ASOCAÑA, CIAMSA, DICSA, and another eleven (11) sugar refineries. The SIC’s sanction was imposed as a result of an anticompetitive agreement between the aforesaid refineries, which was aimed to obstruct and coordinate the imports of sugar to Colombia that were mainly coming from Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

Additionally, the Court indicated that the conduct under investigation was carried out in a continuous way. Moreover, as the conduct had never ceased, the expiration of SIC’s sanctioning power was not set.

The Court also ratified that the SIC was the competent entity to exercise its powers regarding compliance with the protection of free competition rules. Therefore, it was not appropriate to apply the provisions of Decision 608 of the Andean Community, but to apply national regulations. This decision was made based on the origin and effect of the practice, the intention of which was to obstruct the entry of sugar to Colombia from other countries.

Finally, the sentence indicated that according to Article 25 of Law 1340 of 2009, the sanction imposed on INGENIO CARMELITA S.A., was correctly applied. Furthermore, the Court stated that the sanction was closer to the minimum limit and not to the maximum as stated in the law "so it is considered that the fine imposed is not disproportionate to the offense committed."