The Office of Fair Trading (the OFT) has concluded that UOP Limited, UKae Limitted, Thermoseal Supplies Limited, Double Quick Supplyline Limited and Double Glazing Supplies Group plc have been parties to an agreement and/or concerted practice that infringes parts of the Competition Act 1998.

The Parties were involved during the period from 1st March 2000 until at least 12 March 2003 in an overall agreement and/or concerted practice designed to fix and/or maintain minimum resale prices for desiccant manufactured by UOP, which constitutes a single infringement which comprises a number of sub-agreements and/or concerted practices.

The OFT requires the Parties to pay the following penalties:

UOP: £1,232,000
Thermoseal: £139,000
DQS: £109,000; and
DQS: £227,000.

UKae was granted 100 per cent immunity from financial penalties under the OFT’s leniency programme provided it complied with OFT conditions, and its financial penalty is reduced to zero.

Sealed unit manufacturers can source desiccant from a number of producers.

Source

Glass Age