C. H. Robinson Company and Nash-Finch Company

Text (OCR of the scan; may contain errors)

C. H. ROBINSON COMPANY AND NASH-FINCH COMPANY

Docket No. 4589. Order, Feb. 1, 1963 ‘Order directing appointment of a hearing examiner to preside over public investigational hearings on alleged violations of a cease and desist order of the Commission issued Jan. 6, 1947, 43 F.T.C, 297. WHEREAS, pursuant to the provisions of an Act of Congress entitled “An Act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes,” 38 Stat. 730 (1914), as amended by the Robinson-Patman Act, 49 Stat. 1526 (1986), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 18, the Federal Trade Commission on January 6, 1947 [43 F.T.C. 297], after due process and proceedings of record herein and in accordance therewith, issued and served upon the respondents named in the caption hereof, an order to cease and desist under subsection (c) of Section 2, thereof; and WHEREAS by the said order to cease and desist the respondent C. H. Robinson Company and its officers, agents, representatives, and employees, directly or through any corporate or other device, in connection with the purchase of fruits, vegetables, and other commodities in commerce as “commerce” is defined in the aforesaid Clayton Act, do forthwith cease and desist from:

1. Receiving or accepting from any seller, directly or indirectly, anything of value as a commission or brokerage, or any compensation, allowance, or discount in lieu thereof, on or in connection with purchases made by respondent Nash-Finch Company while acting under the control of and in fact for and on behalf of said respondent Nash-Finch Company.

2. Receiving or accepting from any seller, directly or indirectly, anything of value as a commission or brokerage, or any compensation, allowance, or discount in lieu thereof, on or in connection with purchases made for respondent’s own account or while acting for or in behalf of a purchaser as an intermediary or agent or subject to the direct or indirect control of such purchaser.

3. Paying, transmitting, or delivering to or for the benefit of any purchaser, either directly or in the form of money or credits or indirectly in the form of dividends, or otherwise, any commission or brokerage, or any compensation, allowance, or discount in lieu thereof, received from any seller while acting as an intermediary or agent for such purchaser or while subject to the direct or indirect control of such purchaser; and WHEREAS the respondent Nash-Finch Company and its officers, agents, representatives and employees, directly or through any corporate or other device in connection with the purchase of fruits, vegetables, and other commodities in commerce as “commerce” is defined in the aforesaid Clayton Act, do forthwith cease and desist from:

1. Receiving or accepting from any seller, directly or indirectly, anything of value as a commission or brokerage, or any compensation, allowance, or discount in lieu thereof on or in connection with purchases made for respondent’s own account, either directly or by or through respondent C. H. Robinson Company.

2. Receiving or accepting from respondent C. H. Robinson Company, either directly in the form of money or credits or indirectly in the form of dividends, or otherwise, any commission or brokerage, or any compensation, allowance, or discount in lieu thereof, received by said C. H. Robinson Company from any seller while acting for or in behalf of said respondent Nash-Finch Company as an intermediary or agent for said respondent or while subject to the direct or indirect control of said respondent; and WHEREAS the said order to cease and desist has not at any time been modified or set aside and is now, and has at all times since January 23, 1947, been in full force and effect; and WHEREAS the Commission has reason to believe that respondent C. H. Robinson Company and Nash-Finch Company and their officers, agents, representatives and employees, while engaged in commerce in the purchase of certain fruit and other products, may have violated the provisions of the said order to cease and desist as heretofore set forth; and WHEREAS it is deemed by the Commission to be in the public interest to ascertain the extent to which such violations may have occurred;

Now, therefore, it ts ordered, That. a public investigational hearing be conducted for that purpose pursuant to Rule ‘No. 1.84 and related rules of the Commission’s Rules of Practice. It ts further ordered, That the Chief Hearing Examiner hereby appoint and designate a hearing examiner to preside at such hearing with all the powers and duties as provided by Section 4.13 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice, except that of making and filing an initial decision; and upon completion of the hearing, that the hearing examiner shall certify the record to the Commission with his. report on the investigation; and that respondents C. H. Robinson Company and Nash-Finch Company shall have the right of due notice, of cross-examination, of production of evidence in rebuttal, and that the hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the Commission’s Rules of Practice for adjudicative proceedings insofar as such rules are applicable.

Lt is further ordered, That the hearings shall be held at such time and at such places as may be necessary, the initial hearing to be held at a place to be fixed by the said hearing examiner on a day occurring at least thirty (80) days after the service of notice thereof upon respondents C. H. Robinson Company and Nash-Finch Company.

It is further ordered, That the Secretary shall cause service of this order to be made on said respondents C. H. Robinson Company and Nash-Finch Company.