Charges in relation to airline cargo price-fixing have been withdrawn by New Zealand’s Competition Commission.

The agency said this week that it would no longer be filing additional charges against Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines for failing to provide evidence for the ongoing cartel investigation. It had previously accused the two carriers of not being in full compliance with official statutory notices requesting the information.

But on Tuesday the Commerce Commission’s general counsel, Mary-Anne Borrowdale, said that the airlines had now provided satisfactory relevant information and that the agency was pleased to announce the matter had been resolved and the charges would be lifted.

Borrowdale noted that it was important for businesses to quickly respond to any requests received from the Competition Commission. She said this would ensure that investigations were thorough and that decisions could be made on the best possible information.

The news follows an announcement last week that the regulator was dropping proceedings filed against six top officials from Air New Zealand as part of the cargo cartel investigation. However, the case against the airline itself is ongoing, as it is accused of participating with a number of global carriers to fix cargo routes in the effort of driving up prices and increasing profits. Similar cases have been filed in the EU and the United States.