Sarah Mirando  |  May 24, 2012

Category: Legal News

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Vitamin C settlementUPDATE: Details on how to file a claim for the Vitamin C Class Action Lawsuit Settlement have arrived!

A Chinese company has agreed to pay $10.5 million to U.S. purchasers of Vitamin C as part of a class action lawsuit settlement over allegations it conspired to raise prices by limiting exports.

The proposed Vitamin C settlement is the first to be reached in a long-running legal battle brought by commercial buyers of Vitamin C against four Chinese companies in 2005. If approved, it would also be the first civil settlement reached with a Chinese company under U.S. antitrust cartel law.

Under the proposed Chinese Vitamin C class action settlement, Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co. (formerly known as Jiangsu Jiangshuan) will pay $9.5 million to direct purchasers of Vitamin C and an additional $1 million to indirect purchasers.

The two groups of purchasers were certified as separate classes by U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan earlier this year.

The purchasers sued Aland and three other Chinese Vitamin C makers in 2005 after prices for Vitamin C skyrocketed in 2001 following their alleged price-fixing deal. The other three Defendants in the class action lawsuit are Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Ltd, Northeast Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and Weisheng Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.

The Defendants argued that they were required under Chinese law to coordinate production and prices of their exports, and that they should be shielded from the U.S. lawsuit under a doctrine that protects foreign companies compelled by their own governments to go against U.S. law.

Judge Cogan rejected their argument in September 2011, and certified the two classes of purchasers in January 2012.

Keep checking Top Class Actions for details on how to file a claim for the Aland Chinese Vitamin C Class Action Settlement when they become available.

The case is In re: Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 06-md-1738, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

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