386JFE-Kawasaki and JFENKK maintain that the agreement found in the contested decision between Japanese producers and European producers cannot be regarded as having had any effect on trade between Member States, or at least not any appreciable effect, as is required by case-law (Case 28/77 Tepea v Commission [1978] ECR 1391, paragraph 47). JFENKK again states that it is for the Commission to show that the applicants would have conducted themselves differently in the absence of agreements. It refers on that point to paragraph 196 of the judgment in Suiker Unie and Others v Commission, cited in paragraph 56 above. According to JFE-Kawasaki and JFENKK, the Japanese producers sell the tubes referred to in the contested decision, which are all finished products, solely to end consumers, that is to say oil companies. Those products are therefore never resold within the Community market. JFENKK argues that such sales are usually made through the intermediary of a Japanese trading house, under a long-term supply contract or a framework agreement. In particular, project line pipe is not a standard product; it is made to order in accordance with specifications laid down by the client, as the Commission noted in recital 34 to the contested decision. It is not amenable therefore to resale. Moreover, the infringement found in Article 1 of the contested decision had no effect on trade between Member States during the currency of the voluntary restraint agreements.
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