cartel n : a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service; "they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly" [syn: trust, corporate trust, combine]

Cartel \Car*tel"\, n. [F., fr. LL. cartellus a little paper, dim. fr. L. charta. See 1st Card.]
1. (Mil.) An agreement between belligerents for the exchange of prisoners. --Wilhelm.
2. A letter of defiance or challenge; a challenge to single combat. [Obs.] He is cowed at the very idea of a cartel., --Sir W. Scott.

Cartel, or Cartel ship, a ship employed in the exchange of prisoners, or in carrying propositions to an enemy; a ship beating a flag of truce and privileged from capture.

Cartel \Car"tel\, v. t. To defy or challenge. [Obs.] You shall cartel him. --B. Jonson.

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A cartel is a formal (explicit) agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products. Cartel members may agree on such matters as price fixing, total industry output, market shares, allocation of customers, allocation of territories, bid rigging, establishment of common sales agencies, and the division of profits or combination of these. The aim of such collusion (also called the cartel agreement) is to increase individual members' profits by reducing competition.

One can distinguish private cartels from public cartels. In the public cartel a government is involved to enforce the cartel agreement, and the government's sovereignty shields such cartels from legal actions. Contrariwise, private cartels are subject to legal liability under the antitrust laws now found in nearly every nation of the world.

• Ex-Mexican official pleads guilty to aiding cartel - CBS News
  SAN DIEGO — A former Mexican law enforcement official who worked closely with U.S. authorities in the drug war pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in San Diego to aiding members of a violent Tijuana-based cartel, including helping ... Read more on this news related to 'Cartel'
• 3rd Mexico army general probed for drug cartel ties - El Paso Times
  MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico's army said it had detained a third general for questioning on Thursday, hours after a judge placed the two other officers under a form of house arrest pending an investigation for possible links to the Beltran Leyva ... Read more on this news related to 'Cartel'
• Mexico Holds 4 High-Ranking Army Officers - New York Times
  The accusations against the third general, who was arrested Thursday night, include that he ignored a tip by American drug agents about an imminent airplane delivery of a drug cartel’s cocaine in 2007. One of those arrested, Gen. Tomás ... Read more on this news related to 'Cartel'