U.S. Honey Producers File Class Action Suits Against Duty Evading Importers
U.S. honey producers filed class action lawsuits in Northern Illinois U.S. District Court against several honey companies that took part in a transshipment scheme to avoid antidumping duties on honey from China. In a complaint filed April 18, several domestic honey producers sought damages from Honey Holding and Groeb Farms for racketeering and Lanham Act violations related to false advertising and unfair competition. A separate complaint filed April 19 also alleged negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment by Honey Holding.
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“Plaintiffs and the other Class members were injured by declining sales, lost profits, loss of goodwill, and other injuries,” said Adee Honey Farms, Moore’s Honey Farm, and Cox Honey in their April 18 complaint against Honey Holding and Groeb. “Additionally, Plaintiffs and the other Class members have been deprived of the benefits that they are entitled to receive under the [Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act] from duties imposed on Chinese honey.”
Honey Holding and Groeb admitted their participation in the honey transshipment scheme in deferred prosecution agreements in February (see 13022131). According to the government, the seven defendants, which included Honey Holding, Groeb, and five individuals, evaded antidumping duties totaling more than $180 million. As part of the agreement, Honey Holding agreed to pay $1 million and Groeb Farms agreed to pay $2 million in fines. Both companies have also agreed to implement corporate compliance programs.
The April 18 complaint against Groeb and Honey Holding was brought on behalf of a class consisting of “all individuals and entities with commercial beekeeping operations (300 or more hives) that produced and sold honey in the United States during the period from 2001 to the present.” The April 19 complaint against Honey Holding was brought on behalf of a broader class that included “all individuals and entities that produced, packed, sold or distributed honey in the United States, from January 1, 2000 to the present.”
Suits brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, such as these two, allow plaintiffs to seek three times the amount of damages that would otherwise be awarded.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for copies of the complaints.