Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), in its role as National Authority for Competition Protection, sanctioned ORGANIZACIÓN ROA – FLOR HUILA (ORF) and three individuals with fines up to COP $20.514.597.205 for failing to comply with instructions and information requirements and obstructing the administrative visit carried out by this Authority in the facilities of the Department of Casanare, Colombia. 

The SIC found that within ORF there were instructions and guidelines given to the company's employees, to fail to comply with the orders and information requirements made by the SIC during an administrative visit.  

This was evidenced in the following behaviors: 

• The company failed to comply with the requirement to provide the information of the institutional emails assigned within the company to the head and manager of the Villanueva Facility of ORF, thus hindering the development of the administrative action. In order to obstruct the visit, the company argued circumstances such as that the information could not be provided without the authorization of the senior officials, or that a written request from the SIC addressed to ORF management was necessary. 
• It was also proved that the company's reluctance also came from instructions given by ORF's administrative and financial manager in the company’s headquarters in Bogotá.  
• During the visit, ORF also denied the delivery of documents and information about the company requested by the SIC officials, arguing again that it should be requested in writing and would be delivered days later. 
• When the SIC informed the executives and workers of ORF of the functions and capacities that it had in the framework of the administrative visit, as well as the legal consequences of non-compliance with the orders and requirements of the Authority, they stated that they were complying with guidelines and instructions given within the company.