Despite Tesco’s victory at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) last month, the Competition Commission has been given a second chance to come up with a test preventing the dominance of any one retailer in a particular area.
The UK’s largest retailer made a complaint to the CAT last year when the commission recommended the implementation of a competition test after its two-year enquiry into the grocery market. Tesco felt the financial impact of implementing a competition test had not been adequately assessed, which the CAT agreed with.
Despite Tesco’s complaint being upheld last month, the CAT has now given the commission a further six months to come forward with a revised recommendation if it chooses to do so.
The Association of Convenience Stores' (ACS) chief executive James Lowman said: “We support the planning competition test and we welcome the fact that the commission can now correct the technical mistakes with its original recommendation.
“However, we share consumer frustrations that since the grocery market inquiry concluded in May 2008, progress towards delivering a fairer grocery market has been glacial. Today’s decision pushes the issue on but does nothing to speed the process up. The commission could take up to six months to revise its decision and if it maintains its recommendation for a competition test, then we would still have to await a lengthy government process to decide whether to implement the recommendation.
“Real action to protect consumers remains a long way off. We are calling on politicians to step in and act for consumers where the competition institutions are failing to make a difference.”
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