Competition Commission Defends Competition Test For Grocery Retail Planning Applications

The Competition Commission (CC) yesterday published a provisional decision in support of its proposed competition test that would apply to planning decisions in respect of larger grocery stores. It has been carrying out further analysis on this test over the last four months following a ruling on the test by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

The CC originally proposed the test in its report into the UK groceries market of April 2008. Its recent further work on the test came about as a result of a CAT ruling on 4 March 2009, which found that the CC's 2008 report had failed properly to consider certain matters in relation to the test, i.e. how it will work, its proportionality and effectiveness, and its economic costs and benefits.