Brazil's Citrus Farmers Criticize Cartel Ruling

Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 27 - Brazilian citrus farmers criticized on Thursday a government measure that would require the country's orange industry, the world's largest, to pay a $46 million fine to end an investigation into price fixing.

The government's antitrust bodies said late Wednesday that the money would be used to compensate orange farmers and stimulate competition in the citrus sector, which is dominated by a few large companies.

The Brazilian Association of Citrus Farmers (Associtrus) criticized the agreement, which has yet to be signed, saying it was not enough to compensate for years of lost revenue.

"Associtrus considers the amount laughable when you consider the losses the productive sector accumulated because of the cartel over the last 15 years," it said in a statement.

No one at Brazil's antitrust agencies were available to comment on the agreement. Abecitrus, which represents the citrus industry, has repeatedly denied the allegations of price fixing.

Brazil's citrus industry accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's orange juice exports.