The European Commission has fined International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. and International Flavors & Fragrances France SAS (together ‘IFF’) €15.9 million for obstructing a Commission inspection in 2023. The Commission found that during the inspection, a senior employee of IFF intentionally deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged with a competitor.
In March 2023, the Commission carried out inspections at the premises of companies active in the consumer fragrance industry.
During its inspection, the Commission asked to review the mobile telephones of some of IFF’s employees. While reviewing, the Commission detected that a senior employee had deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged with a competitor containing business-related information. The deletion took place after the employee had been informed about the Commission’s inspection.
After the detection, IFF immediately acknowledged the facts and proactively cooperated with the Commission during and after the inspection. IFF cooperated by helping the Commission recover the deleted data.
In March 2024, the Commission opened proceedings against IFF for obstructing its investigation. IFF engaged in a cooperation procedure by acknowledging its liability and accepting the maximum amount of the fine.
According to the Regulation No 1/2003, the Commission can impose fines of up to 1% of the total turnover of companies, which intentionally or negligently obstruct an antitrust investigation. In setting the amount of a fine, the Commission takes into account both the gravity and the duration of the infringement.
The Commission considers that the infringement committed by IFF is of a very serious nature, particularly given that the senior employee intentionally deleted the WhatsApp messages after having been informed about the Commission’s inspection. In addition, the Commission was not informed of the data deletion. Instead, Commission inspectors had to detect the deletion themselves after the mobile phone was submitted for review.
On this basis, the Commission has concluded that an overall fine amounting to 0.3% of IFF’s total turnover would be both proportionate and deterrent. At the same time, the Commission has decided to reward IFF for its proactive cooperation during and after the inspection. It has therefore decided to reduce such fine amount by 50% and to impose a fine of €15.9 million, which represents 0.15% of IFF’s total turnover.
“Compliance with antitrust investigations is of paramount importance. Companies that undergo an inspection must ensure that employees do not delete or manipulate business records. This includes communications on mobile phones. Today’s decision to fine IFF shows that we will not tolerate any action that could impact the effectiveness of our investigations and that we firmly pursue and sanction any such obstructions.” Said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy.
IFF, alongside Symrise, Givaudan and FIrmenich are currently being investigated by the Commission as being part of a suspected fragrance cartel.
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