21 Nov 2011

Sth Korean fine may be appealed

12:48 pm on 21 November 2011

Zespri will consider appealing against a fine of almost $500,000 imposed by South Korea's Fair Trade Commission.

The commission has ruled that the New Zealand kiwifruit marketer breached Korean trade rules by arranging exclusive supply deals with supermarket chains which shut out competitors such as Chile.

Zespi is still waiting to see the full details of the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

But it has already changed the business arrangement that was found to have broken the rules.

Zespri says that the fine will come from its corporate fund, not from growers.

South Korea is New Zealand's sixth largest kiwifruit market and its third largest for gold kiwifruit.

The trade was worth about $109 million last year.