§ Mr. Grocottasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection when he expects to publish the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report on the supply in the United Kingdom of cat and dog foods.
§ Mr. John FraserThe report is being published today.
The Commission found that monopoly situations existed in favour of the Pedigree Pet Foods Division of Mars Ltd. and Spillers Ltd. on the ground that each of these companies provided more than 25 per cent. of all the prepared cat and dog foods supplied in the United Kingdom.
The Commission considered the effect of these monopoly situations on the public interest under three main headings. These were (i) the effectiveness of competition between the reference type goods and other forms of cat and dog foods—that is, fresh food and scraps; (ii) the effectiveness of competition between suppliers of reference goods; and (iii) the prices, profits and efficiency of Pedigree Pet Foods and Spillers. It also looked 544W at certain policies and practices of Pedigree Pet Foods and Spillers which might have constituted steps taken for the purpose of exploiting or maintaining the monopoly situation. These were the level of advertising, the wide variety of flavours and brands and the discount policies of both companies.
The Commission concluded that no facts found by it operated or might be expected to operate against the public interest. There are, therefore, no grounds for any action on the report by my right hon. Friend.