The Competition Tribunal has agreed to an application by the Competition Commission to reopen the long-running Allens Meshco case to obtain clarity on where to direct penalties should it be required.

Following a request by the commission, the reopening of the case will provide the Competition Tribunal with additional information on which of the Allens Mescho Group (AMG) of companies will be held liable should the group be found to have contravened the Competition Act.

“The issues to be argued are which year the administrative penalty should apply to, as the Allens Meshco companies reported zero turnover by 2015, and the determination of which firm or firms the penalty should be directed to, as it appears from testimony heard by the tribunal that some of the ten firms have either merged with other companies, deregistered or are in the process of deregistering,” the tribunal said in a statement.

The tribunal explained that, as a body with statutory functions, it was required to obtain the evidence and conduct the hearing in an “inquisitorial manner” should the commission not be allowed to reopen its case.

“Thus, whatever the process, the evidence must be presented so that we can determine the matter properly,” the tribunal said in its reasons.

The companies involved are Allens Meshco; Hendok; Wire Force; Agri Wire; Agri Wire North; Agri Wire Upington; Cape Wire; Forest Wire; Independent Galvanising and Associate Wire Industries and a separate company Cape Gate, which had cooperated with the commission in its 2007 investigation into allegations of price-fixing of lightly galvanised wire, nails, wire and wire products. 

The application to reopen the case against AMG was one of five applications heard by the tribunal, which had consolidated its decisions and orders to deal with all five.

The remaining four applications, all brought by AMG, were dismissed, including having the merits and remedies of the complaint related to the AMG separated and striking out of an affidavit by Cape Gate’s lawyer, as well as Cape Gate’s answering affidavit relating to an application by the commission to amend its application to the tribunal.

The application to amend had been withdrawn by the commission.