BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) - Oreo maker Mondelez

International ( MDLZ ) was fined 337.5 million euros ($365.7

million) by EU antitrust regulators on Thursday for impeding

cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products

between EU countries.

The sanction by the European Commission continues its

crackdown on companies imposing territorial supply constraints

on distributors and retailers.

The Commission said Mondelez ( MDLZ ) had engaged in anti-competitive

deals and had also abused its dominant position in breach of EU

antitrust laws. The company's fine was reduced by 15% after it

acknowledged its wrongdoing.

"We are determined to uphold fundamental freedoms in the

European Union and to ensure that European citizens have access

to the biggest variety at the lowest prices that the market can

offer," EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager told a press

conference.

Mondelez ( MDLZ ) said the EU case concerned historical, isolated

incidents, most of which stopped or were remedied well in

advance of the Commission's investigation.

"This historical matter is not representative of who we are

and the strong culture of compliance for which we strive," a

Mondelez ( MDLZ ) spokesperson said.

The Commission said that Mondelez ( MDLZ ) limited the territories or

customers to which seven wholesale customers could resell its

products between 2012 and 2019 and also prevented 10 exclusive

distributors in some EU countries from replying to sale requests

from customers in other EU countries between 2006 and 2020.

Between 2015 and 2019 the company also refused to supply a

broker in Germany to prevent the resale of chocolate tablet

products in four countries where prices were higher, the EU

watchdog said, adding that Mondelez ( MDLZ ) also stopped the supply of

such products in the Netherlands to prevent them from being

imported into Belgium.

($1 = 0.9228 euros)