Brussels - The European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) said Monday it had launched its own probe into reports that an EU official leaked valuable trade secrets concerning Chinese companies.

"OLAF has opened a case file today and is assessing the information," said an official from the independent body, which was set up in 1999 in a bid to boost transparency in Brussels.

The statement from Olaf follows the news that the European Commission had decided to open its own investigation into the case on Friday.

The allegations, reported in this week's The Sunday Times, involve Fritz-Harald Wenig, a director in the commission's trade department.

According to The Sunday Times, Wenig agreed to disclose information about whether certain Chinese manufacturers might soon benefit from reduced import tariffs into the European Union.

The information was given to two undercover reporters, who met Wenig in Brussels on several occasions while posing as British lobbyists.

The fake lobbyists told Wenig they were acting on behalf of a fictional Hong Kong businessman.

Knowing in advance whether a company might in future benefit from reduced import tariffs would have given a potential buyer an unfair advantage over their competitors.

Wenig also allegedly informed the lobbyists in advance about the outcome of a forthcoming EU decision on footwear tariffs.

When asked how he should be paid for such information, Wenig is quoted as telling the fake lobbyists that one way of circumventing EU rules would be to make any funds available to him only after his retirement.

Wenig has denied breaching commission staff regulations, arguing that the information he passed on was already known to "lots of people", including member states and company lawyers.

On Friday, the commission said it followed "a policy of zero tolerance vis-a-vis unethical and illegal behaviour.

In the meantime, the person at the centre of the allegations should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, officials in Brussels said Monday. (dpa)