The Turkish Competition Authority has concluded a major investigation into companies operating in the markets for hybrid industrial gherkin seeds and hybrid vegetable and fruit seeds, imposing significant fines after finding violations of competition law.
The investigation, launched following decisions of the Competition Board in November and December 2024, examined whether several seed producers had breached Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements and coordination between competitors.
At the end of the probe, the Board concluded that Antalya Tarım, Gautier, Metgen and AD Rossen (in liquidation) had violated the law by exchanging competitively sensitive information. As a result, the authority imposed fines totalling 49,048,337 Turkish lira, equivalent to roughly €1.3 million.
The largest penalty was imposed on Antalya Tarım, which was fined 44,608,467 lira (about €1.2 million). Metgen received a fine of 3,360,943 lira (around €90,000), while Gautier and AD Rossen in liquidation were fined approximately 736,567 lira (€20,000) and 342,359 lira (€9,000) respectively.
The case also involved a wider group of seed companies that opted to settle with the authority during the investigation. Firms including Bayer, Syngenta, Rijk Zwaan, Sakata, Hazera, Vilmorin, Nunhems and others admitted to exchanging competitively sensitive information. Two of the companies—Nunhems and Rijk Zwaan—also acknowledged coordinating sales prices.
Because the companies chose to settle and accept the findings, the authority granted a 25% reduction in the administrative fines imposed on them.
In total, the investigation led to fines amounting to 188,921,100 Turkish lira, approximately €5 million, across the companies involved.
