Superseding Information

The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges:

1. HITOSHI HAYASHI ("the defendant") is made a defendant on the charge stated below.

2. From 1992 until 1996, the defendant and co-conspirators participated in a combination and conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices and allocating the volumes of sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere. The combination and conspiracy engaged in by the defendant and co-conspirators was in unreasonable restraint of interstate trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1).

3. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the defendant and co-conspirators, the substantial terms of which were:

(a)	to agree to fix and maintain prices and to coordinate price increases for sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere; and
(b)	to agree to allocate among sorbates producers the volumes of sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere.

4. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendant and co-conspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:

(a)	participating in meetings and conversations to discuss the prices and volumes of sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere;
(b)	agreeing, during those meetings and conversations, to charge prices at certain levels and otherwise to increase and maintain prices of sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere;
(c)	agreeing, during those meetings and conversations, to allocate among major producers the volumes of sorbates to be sold in the United States and elsewhere;
(d)	issuing price announcements and price quotations in accordance with the agreements reached; and
(e)	exchanging information on sales of sorbates in the United States and elsewhere for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices and sales volumes.

5. During the period covered by this Superseding Information, the defendant was a salesman for Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd. ("Daicel"), a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Japan. During the period covered by this Superseding Information, the defendant and Daicel were engaged in the business of producing and, through Daicel's trading company, selling sorbates for resale to customers in the United States and elsewhere.

6. Various corporations and individuals, not made defendants in this Superseding Information, participated as co-conspirators in the offense charged in this Superseding Information and performed acts and made statements in furtherance of it.

7. Whenever in this Superseding Information reference is made to any act, deed, or transaction of any corporation, the allegation means that the corporation engaged in the act, deed, or transaction by or through its officers, directors, employees, agents, or other representatives while they were actively engaged in the management, direction, control, or transaction of its business or affairs.

8. Sorbates are chemical preservatives used primarily as mold inhibitors in high-moisture and high-sugar food products. All references to sorbates in this Superseding Information include the products potassium sorbate and sorbic acid.

9. During the period covered by this Superseding Information, the defendant and co-conspirators sold and distributed sorbates in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate commerce to customers located in states or countries other than the states or countries in which the defendants and co-conspirators produced sorbates.

10. The business activities of the defendant and co-conspirators that are the subject of this Superseding Information were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate trade and commerce.

11. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Superseding Information was carried out, in part, in the Northern District of California within the five years preceding the filing of the Indictment in this case (United States v. Komatsu et al., CR 01-0019 (N.D. Ca. 2001)).

ALL IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 15, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1.

Dated: 7/29/04