James Uthmeier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office has issued Civil Investigative Demands (CID) to several major corporations and environmental groups as part of an investigation into potential antitrust violations.
“Environmental groups are pressuring corporations to abandon free market principles and raise prices on consumers for products they don’t want, and many corporations continue their associations with these groups,” Uthmeier said. “Our office provided them with a sufficient opportunity to respond to our inquiries regarding potential violations of the law. Time’s up.”
Unilever, Coca-Cola, Target, Nestle, Mondelez International Holdings LLC, the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum and the Green Blue Institute all received CIDs. The CIDs are investigating suspicions that the corporations may have engaged in collusive partnerships through and with the environmental groups that, among other things, restricted trade, increased prices for consumers, and diminished free market competition.
The filings require the corporations and groups to produce documentation including:
• Communications between the corporations and the environmental groups.
• Communications between the corporations and other corporations within their same environmental groups.
• Documents related to the environmental groups’ “problematic materials” lists and rules.
• Records of steps the corporations have taken to eliminate any such “problematic materials” and the economic impact on consumers from those steps.
All subpoenaed documentation must be provided by May 27.
In February, Uthmeier’s issued a letter of notice to the nearly 80 corporations that are associated with the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum or the Sustainable Packaging Coalition for their involvement in practices that potentially violate antitrust and consumer protection laws.
“Multiple advocacy organizations have pressured companies into artificially changing the output and quality of their goods and services in way that normal market forces would not otherwise bring about,” he said then. “These groups were warned that their activity presents serious conflicts with antitrust and consumer protection laws, and advocacy for a particular agenda is not a basis to mislead consumers.”
Those notices follow letters sent in October by Uthmeier and a multistate coalition of AGs to the U.S. Plastics Pact, the Consumer Goods Forum and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, raising grave concerns that the policies, targets and compliance frameworks promoted by these organizations may violate the Sherman Act, state antitrust laws and applicable consumer protection laws.
