CARACAS, March 24, 2009 (AFP) - Venezuela has begun an investigation into two paper companies, including US giant Kimberly-Clark, for allegedly skirting government price controls on products, officials said Monday.
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 March 4 expropriation 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 March 5, 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 percent owner of the US-based SIMCO Recycling Corporation, of Costa Rica-based Manpa of Central America and of Trinidad and Tobago's Paper Converters.
