Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Monday, 24 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 October 2006. It was answered by Ian McCartney (Labour) on Monday, 9 October 2006 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Milk

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will refer milk pricing to the forthcoming investigation into the market power of supermarkets.

Answer: The UK competition framework has established the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) as independent statutory bodies. Responsibility for deciding on the scope of the current inquiry into the grocery market rests with these bodies: the Government no longer has a role in such decisions.When the OFT announced its decision to refer the grocery market to the CC on 9 May it detailed the competition concerns that it felt warranted investigation. In doing so, the OFT made it clear that the CC was not limited to investigating only the issues that the OFT had identified. On 15 June, the CC published its issues statement which set out the specific questions and areas that the inquiry intends to examine. But it also noted that this did not represent a final judgment on any aspect of the investigation. A copy of the issues statement can be found on the CC’s inquiry website athttp://www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2006/grocery/index.htm

Secondary information