Thirteen logistics firms, including UPS, Panalpina and Expeditors, were fined a total 169 million euros ($225 million) by the European Commission for cartel activities.

Deutsche Post unit DHL Global Forwarding, which took part in the collusion but alerted the regulator, escaped a financial penalty, confirming a Reuters story.

The European Commission said the companies fixed prices in the air freight forwarding business in four cartels between 2002 and 2007, in breach of EU antitrust rules. The charges followed raids on the companies three years earlier.

"In times of crisis, it is all the more important to stamp out the hidden tax that cartels impose on our economy. These cartels affected individuals and companies shipping goods on important trade lanes," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

"Many European exporters and consumers of imported goods may have been harmed as a result," he said. (Reuters)