Some leading lorry manufacturers in Europe are at the centre of a cartel investigation. The Office of Fair Trading is leading an enquiry into whether they have fixed prices contrary to the Chapter I Prohibition of the Competition Act. The Act prohibits agreements that have as their object or effect the distortion of trade, unless the agreements fall within an exemption. Offending agreements are unenforceable, third parties may sue for damages and the companies involved can be fined up to 10% of their total annual turnover. It is also possible in agreements between competitors that the officers involved can be individually prosecuted under the Enterprise Act, and the sanction for falling foul of that are fines and/or imprisonment. The companies involved are Mercedes-Benz, Iveco, Renault, Volvo, MAN and Scania. All companies deny any wrong-doing and claim to be fully co-operating with the investigation.