The process of the Department of Justice would focus on possible antitrust violations among the largest egg manufacturers in the country
The United States Department of Justice began an investigation into the main producers of egg of the country on possible antitrust violations, Measure that the price of the eggs turns onHe said two people who are familiar with the subject a The New York Times.
The public ministries of the Department are preparing to send civil investigation quotes to various producers, including Cal-Maine Foods and Rose Acre Farms. Researchers want to know if companies share confidential information on prices and supplycontribute For an increase in egg prices.
The investigation is conducted by the Chicago antitrust division office. A spokesman for the Department of Justice refused to comment on the investigations. Cal-Maine and Acre Rose did not respond to requests for comments. The Capitol Forum Previously he reported the investigation.
Avian influence
You Egg prices started last year and quickly became the subject in the presidential campaign. The manufacturers have blamed the spread of avian influencewho forced them to massacre millions of chickens, for the closest offer of eggs and prices that exceeded $ 8 ($ 46) to a dozen in some areas.
The investigation of the Department of Justice may not lead to a cause. Some legislators and defense groups had already requested that federal regulatory agencies investigate the sector’s prices practices.
About 15% of the pose chickens of the country, that is, which lay the eggs, have died victims of aviary influence in the last four months. In the meantime, wholesale prices have increased by 255%, according to expansion data, which monitors products prices.
The united egg manufacturers, the commercial association of the sector, have blamed the discharge of prices directly to the severity of the epidemic of avian influence. After the sector has lost more than 40 million chickens placed throughout 2024, 31 million were killed only in the first two months of this year, with the acceleration of the virus, the group observed.
The highly contagious disease between animals is “the only one responsible for dramatic instability and losses in the country’s offer of eggs,” said Chad Gregory, CEO of the group.
In previous outbreaks, Gregory said, a farm affected by the virus could recover in a period of three to six months. However, in the current outbreak, the recovery process requested by the law may require more than a year.
“The attack of new cases aggravated the problems for the recovery capacity of the egg farms,” he said, “and will take time to restore the country’s supply of eggs.”
Emily Metz, CEO of American Egg Board, chose these feelings in a statement. “You suggest that the highest prices of eggs are the result of something different from the avian influence is a wrong reading of facts and reality,” he said.
Past experiences
In the past, egg manufacturers were responsible for the price control by limiting the offer. In 2011, large food companies, including the Kraft and the Mills GeneralThey developed the largest manufacturers and groups of eggs in the sector, claiming to have conspired to reduce the supply and increase prices.
The case was brought to a jury, which concluded in 2023 that egg producers had illegally inflated prices. The producers were ordered to pay $ 17.7 million indemnities, an amount that, according to the antitrust law, was tripled to $ 53 million.
Last year, under the command of the former president Joe BidenThe antitrust division of the Department of Justice began to hire staff for his Chicago office to investigate the possible antitrust violations in agriculture.
To deal with the record prices of the eggs, the agricultural department said in February that it was studying the possibility of importing more eggs and increasing funding to combat the spread of votor influence.
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Source: Terra
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