Venezuela probes US paper company's prices

The probe was launched after consumer protection institute Indepabis inspected the premises of Kimberly-Clark and Manufacturas de Papel (Manpa) and found they had stopped producing products that came under price controls.

Government agents searched factories of both firms in northern Maracay, a trade ministry statement said, adding that it was studying "additional measures" it might take to protect the consumer.

The move follows President Hugo Chavez expropriation, on 4 March, of a rice processing plant, a subsidiary of US agriculture giant Cargill, on charges it had stopped producing a variety of rice that also came under price controls.

On 5 March, Chavez expropriated a 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) plantation owned by Irish paper manufacturer Smurfit Kappa to develop a domestic farm program.

The seizures and price controls are part of the Chavez administration's attempts to come to grips with worsening shortages of staples.

Manpa is a 50% owner of the US-based SIMCO Recycling Corporation, of Costa Rica-based Manpa of Central America and of Trinidad and Tobago's Paper Converters.

Source: AFP

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