Friday December 11 2009 Volume: 37 Issue: 50
A RULING on the role of the orange juice industry in Brazil, under investigation for involvement in suspected cartel practice by the country's Secretariat of Economic Law (SDE) since 2006, is unlikely to be issued by Brazil's Administra-tive Council for Economic Defence (CADE) earlier than August 2010.
Vladimir Pekic writes: the reason for the delay is that CADE president Arthur Badin and two of the remaining five CADE commissioners, Carlos Emmanuel Joppert Ragazzo and César Costa Alves de Mattos, are ineligible to vote because of personal ties with the citrus producing sector.
Ragazzo's two-year mandate is due to expire in August 2010, while the mandates of Badin and Mattos expire in November 2010. All three are eligible for re-election.
Fávio Viegas, president of the Brazilian Association of Citrus Producers (Associtrus), said producers were disappointed with the lack of quorum, which could now extend until 2012, if commissioner mandates are renewed. |