DECREE LAW ON PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS RISKS BEING ANTI-COMPETITIVE
PRESS RELEASE
DECREE LAW ON PRICES OF FARM PRODUCTS
RISKS BEING ANTI-COMPETITIVE
Authority to examine text at Wednesday meeting
The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 19 October, will examine (with a view to exercising the right of notification foreseen in the law) the implications for competition of Article 2bis of the draft Decree AC 6063 intended to convert the Decree law no. 182/2005 dealing with prices for agricultural goods; the draft has been approved by the House Agriculture Commission. The article in question stipulates that large supermarkets and shopping malls must reserve 20 per cent of their Food areas for regional farm and processed food products.
The Authority will assess and advise Parliament of any anti-competitive effects such a provision may cause in the retail and food sectors.
The Authority, which in June set up an inquiry into the food distribution sector, has in the past expressed its opinion of regulation within the retail sector, in particular in its findings of 25 February 1998 and 17 March 1999, in which it pointed out the restrictions on competition and the consequent disadvantages for consumers resulting from excessive limitations placed on retailers in the opening of new stores.
Rome, 17 October 2005