Symrise Calls European Commission Search

PARIS – German perfume and flavor supplier Symrise has filed an appeal with the Court of justice of the European Union against the search carried out on behalf of the European Commission between March 7 and 9.

As noted, the world's four major fragrance suppliers – Symrise, Firmenich, Givaudan and IFF – are involved in an antitrust investigation. In March, the companies confirmed they were part of an investigation into possible collusion by the European Commission.

"We consider the search to be unlawful in several legal respects," Symrise said in a statement Thursday . . “The European Commission has not sufficiently explained the information it has that suggests that Symrise may also be involved in transactions that violate antitrust law. The object and purpose of the search are also not described in sufficient detail. It is simply a reproduction of a general statement. »

Symrise said the Commission now has until July 26 to write to the ECJ and explain why the search carried out was adequate. The Commission was also asked to fully explain its accusations regarding Symrise.

The company said the Commission searched various documents between June 21 and June 23, in the presence of Symrise's lawyers, and that they retained only a "marginal number".

"All other electronic documents viewed were again deleted in the presence of our attorneys," said Symrise. "We strongly believe that Symrise cannot be the target of the ongoing investigations."

In March, the Commission revealed that it had carried out unannounced inspections of business premises and a association active in the perfume industry in many EU Member States. He said he was trying to find out if there was any collusion related to the supply of fragrance and flavor ingredients.

The commission did not release the names of the companies under investigation, but all four vendors have confirmed they are part of the raid.

Symrise is the first of them to appeal to the Court of Justice.