The Irish Competition Authority is required by Section 12 of the Competition Act, 1991 to publish an annual report of its activities. The 3rd Annual Report for the period ended 31st December, 1994 has recently been published and includes a copy of the Franchise Agreements Category Licence, a list of all notifications to the Authority in 1994 and a list of decisions made and notifications dealt with in 1994.
Of particular interest is the continued decrease in the level of notifications - from approximately 1,156 in 1992 (the first full year of operation of the Competition Act), down to 67 in 1993 and 34 in 1994. The following matters are highlighted in the Annual Report as being of particular importance:-
- the Irish Distillers/Cooley notification where the Authority refused to issue a clearance for the acquisition by Irish Distillers of the only independently owned distillery in Ireland. The decision was taken partly on the basis of public indications by Irish Distillers that their intention was to close down the Cooley distillery and the Authority concluded that the object or effect of the notified arrangements was to prevent competition by eliminating a potential new supplier of Irish whisky;
- in the Falcon Holidays/Ben McArdle notification the Authority required an amendment to standard form booking terms which obliged consumers booking through Falcon to purchase the holiday insurance package arranged with a particular broker. In its Annual Report the Authority indicates that it is concerned at reports that other tour operators seek to circumvent the decision by imposing a charge where consumers purchase insurance separately;
- the Irish Stock Exchange was refused clearance for its new rules for trading in government securities as a result of provisions for the imposition of uniform fixed commissions and on the basis that brokers only could act as agents;
- in a series of decisions, the Authority refused clearance for agreements providing for the fixing of book prices. In other decisions agreements were approved only after a clause requiring book sellers to charge the price fixed by the publisher had been deleted;
- in the Musgrave/SuperValu-Centra notification the Authority refused approval for an agreement which required retailers trading under franchise names to stock and display franchise own brand products at recommended prices.
The Annual Report for 1994 highlights the importance of competition law regulation of commercial transactions in Ireland and the growing power of the Competition Authority. While at present the Authority does not have powers for active enforcement of the Competition Act, 1991 the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 1994 which was published in June 1994 is understood to be under review with a view to its implementation in the near future. If the 1994 Bill is enacted as drafted it will confer enforcement powers on the Authority which will further increase its powers as a regulator of commercial transactions.
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