Zhitong Finance APP learned that on Monday, the European Commission announced that it had imposed a fine of 15.9 million euros (17.05 million US dollars) on the US company International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF.US) and its French subsidiary for obstructing an investigation into collusion in the manipulation of the supply of flavors and fragrance raw materials.

"During the inspection period (March 2023), a senior employee of International Flavors & Fragrances intentionally deleted WhatsApp messages exchanged with competitors," the European Commission said.

"After being discovered, International Flavors & Fragrances immediately admitted to the facts and actively cooperated with the Commission during and after the inspection. International Flavors & Fragrances helped the Commission recover the deleted data."

The European Commission added that an investigation into suspected spice cartels is ongoing. The investigation was launched in March 2023 and also includes Swiss company Givaudan and Firmenich, as well as German company Symrise.

These companies stated that they are cooperating with the anti-cartel investigation, but have no further comment, although Symrise has questioned the European Commission's investigation in court. Other jurisdictions are also conducting anti-cartel investigations.

As of press time, International Flavors & Fragrances is up 1.94% in pre-market trading to $97.84.