P & G, Unilever Battle Hots Up In Argentina

Procter & Gamble on Thursday dismissed a countermove by rival Unilever in a battle over Argentine soap sales and said it trusted its charges of foul play would bring sanctions.

Nothing changes in our attitude...(Unilevers disclaimer) is a lot of talk but they never directly denied our charges, P&Gs legal director Enrique Banuchi said.

The U.S. firm filed a complaint with the National Comittee for the Defense of Competition Tuesday accusing Unilever of pressuring retailers to boycott its Duplex powder.

It also accused the Anglo-Dutch giant of plastering the city with toilet seat posters that befoul the image of Ariel, another washing powder it was about to launch locally.

Unilever on Wednesday said P&Gs accusations stemmed from bitterness over its success.

Thats ridiculous, Banuchi said. Of course were successful. Who sells the most diapers in Argentina? The most dandruff shampoo and the most dishwashing liquid?

We do. The problem is that the big market, one worth $500 million, is in clothes washing powders, and thats where theyre doing everything possible to stop us making inroads.

Unilever sells up to 80 percent of local washing powder products. It has been in business in Argentina for some 70 years and sells a total estimated $800 million annually in different consumer products.

P&G began local operations seven years ago and sells an estimated $200 million. But Unilever said the charges were slanderous. (Its) an attempt to take the discussion into the public sphere, using false arguments to try to justify a lack of commercial success and involving our clients improperly, Unilever said in a statement Wednesday. P&Gs Banuchi asked consumers to check for themselves whether its powder soap Duplex is carried by leading supermarket chains.

Unilever says theres free competition in shops. I ask everyone to go and see if they can find Duplex Miniespuma in their local supermarket. They probably cant, he said.

Banuchi was confident the charges would be deemed worthy of an investigation by the committee, which is expected to announce whether it will probe the charges in coming days.

There is proof we have presented but not made public yet out of respect for Unilever, which hasnt been formally notified of the case, Banuchi said.

If the Committee accepts the case, Unilever will be notified and given 15 days to present its defense. If found guilty, Unilever could face a fine 20 per cent higher than the total amount of profits it made through unfair trade practices.