Akzo Nobel, the chemicals group, has lost its appeal against a €20.9m ($30.5m) fine for participating in a feed additive cartel, in a decision which underlines the extent to which a parent company can be held liable for price-fixing activities by its subsidiaries.

The appeal against a 2004 fine by the European Commission was comprehensively rejected by the European Court of Justice, the EU’s top court. The regulator had fined Akzo Nobel and four of its subsidiaries jointly and severally for price-fixing and market-sharing in the cartel with other manufacturers in the market for choline chloride.