The Competition Commission has today published its "emerging thinking" in its review of the UK grocery sector. Local markets across the UK will be the focus of the investigation going forward.
While the CC has yet not reached any conclusions, and the emerging thinking is described as a "progress report", certain issues are highlighted:
- Supply chain – no clear evidence that supermarket buyer power is reducing innovation but a feeling that the CC has less specific evidence regarding the supermarkets’ power and activities than the CC would have expected;
- Land banks/planning – to date the emphasis has been on gathering information. The CC is now moving to the analysis stage. It has received conflicting evidence on the effect of planning controls;
- Retailer competition – this will be a focus area for the CC over the next couple of months. The analysis will concentrate on local areas including issues such as evidence of below-cost selling and price flexing by retailers.
Other issues such as the character of the "high street", animal welfare standards and environmental issues including food miles have also been brought to the CC’s attention.
This inquiry now appears to be moving from the evidence gathering stage to in-depth analysis. The CC is interested to hear what interested parties have to say about its emerging thinking, so now is the time to speak up. For more information on how to contact the CC see its press release. The emerging thinking document is available here.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 23/01/2007.
