The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition watchdog, has officially announced that it has dropped its investigation into Symrise as part of its probe into possible illegal collusion in the perfume industry [1].
CMA said it has taken the step on “administrative priority grounds.”
However, the probe into three other major players — Firmenich International, Givaudan, and International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) — remains active.
“Symrise welcomes today’s decision by the CMA,” commented the German company in a statement.
Symrise added it has always maintained not to have participated “in any unlawful agreements with competitors in the fragrance business,” and that “it should never have been part of this investigation and that the actions taken by the authorities were not justified.”
Symrise also said it remains committed to ethical business practices and regulatory compliance and that it hopes similar investigations by other authorities will also being discontinued in the near future.
The CMA first launched its inquiry in March 2023, citing concerns of potential anti-competitive behaviour from the main global suppliers of fragrances. In January 2024, the probe expanded to include allegations of unlawful coordination between Firmenich, Givaudan, and IFF.
The CMA has indicated it will provide a further update on the ongoing investigation in September.
Investigations on the same grounds were launched simultaneously in the European Union, Switzerland and the United States.
