The European Court of Justice has ruled that ETI, an Italian marketer and maker of tobacco products, is to be held responsible for paying a € 20 million (US$ 29.3 million) price-fixing fine imposed on its predecessor.

According to the court, the Italian competition authority was correct to transfer a fine to Ente Tabacchi Italiani (ETI) from its previous entity Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS) for a cartel involving industry giant Philip Morris between 1993 and 2001. The cartel had influenced retail cigarette prices in Italy, the competition authority found
In a statement, the court said that “responsibility for breach of the competition rules can be passed on from one economic entity to the one that succeeds it, if both answer to the same public authority.”
ETI – now a unit of British American Tobacco – had appealed against the € 20 million fine imposed by the Italian competition authority, arguing it should not be penalised for actions during the time of its predecessor..
AAMS was an autonomous body administering state monopolies. Beginning in 1999, its responsibilities were taken over by ETI.
Until 1999, all manufacturing and sales activities in the tobacco sector were assigned to the autonomous body administering state monopolies, Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS). They were then transferred to ETI. Initially 100 per cent owned by the ministry of the economy and finance, ETI was privatised following a call for tenders launched in 2003. (pi)