The European Commission (EC) has imposed fines totaling 32,225,000 euros (about 44 million U.S. dollars) on three producers of canned mushrooms, who were accused of participating in a cartel to fix prices and allocate customers.

According to a statement of the EC, 30,204,000 euros of the penalty was imposed on French company Bonduelle, while Dutch producer Prochamp was charged of 2,021,000 euros. The third company, Lutece, was not fined for revealing the existence of the cartel to the Commission.

The investigation shows, the infringement lasted for more than a year, from September 2010 to February 2012.

With an aim to stabilize market shares and stop price decline, the three companies exchanged confidential information on tenders, set minimum prices, agreed on volume targets and allocated customers.

"The cartel for canned mushrooms, which aimed to avoid a fall in prices, covered sales to retailers throughout Europe for more than a year," said European Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquin Almunia. "This means that potentially, all consumers may have been affected."

Since all three undertakings agreed to settle the case with the European Commission, their fines were reduced by 10 percent. Investigations are continuing with a fourth company, Spain's Riberebro, which has refused a settlement, the commission said. (1 Euro = 1.36 U.S. dollars)