Wednesday, May 29, 2024

AgriStats loses bid to exit price-fixing cases


 

AgriStats has lost its bid to be dismissed from price-fixing lawsuits for pork, chicken and beef filed by the United States Department of Justice.

AgriStats collected production and pricing information from meat-packing companies, compiled an industry report and sold it back to the companies which then could see where they stood in relationship to competitors.


On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minnesota denied, Indiana-based Agri Stats' motion to dismiss the case, saying the government's antitrust claims were sufficient to move forward for now, Reuters reports. Agri Stats denied wrongdoing.


According to a Reuters news agency article, the Justice Department, California, Texas, North Carolina and other states alleged last year in their lawsuit that Agri Stats was unlawfully collecting competitively sensitive industry information and sharing it with subscribers. They said major meat processors