Best Practice & Ethics
Grocery review based on inadequate evidence
The
Competition Commission (CC) may be failing to review the grocery market in
line with its statutory duties, basing its approach on inadequate evidence and
failing to protect the interests of all consumer groups, the
New Economics Foundation (NEF)
has warned.
The NEF, an independent think tank, argued that when
assessing the impact of supermarkets the CC has taken an over-simplistic view of
consumer interests, focusing on price alone when the
Enterprise Act
requires quality, innovation and choice to be considered.
Furthermore, alleged the NEF, the CC has failed to
interview sufficient suppliers or consumers.
The collective dominance of the big four supermarkets,
argued NEF policy director Andrew Simms, is undermining the right of consumers to
enjoy a full range of goods and services, including independent local retailers
and street markets.
Simms warned: “Unless [the CC] makes full use of its powers
for the next stage of its inquiry, the big, centralised logistical operations of
the supermarkets will continue to drive the homogenisation of business,
shopping, eating, farming, food, the landscape the environment and our daily
lives”.
The NEF recommended that a new, more effective mechanism be
created to address abuses within the grocery market. This, it was proposed,
would entail the creation of an independent regulator to monitor the
relationship between supermarkets and suppliers and adjudicate in an ongoing
manner.
Links
Competition Commission
New Economics Foundation
Enterprise Act
May 2007
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