§ 89. Mr. BeithTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he has plans to take any new initiatives on competition policy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RidleyThe recommendations for legislative change in the 1988 review on mergers policy have now been implemented. Mergers policy focuses primarily on competition and I continue to apply it vigorously. We announced last year in the White Paper "Opening Markets: New policy on Restrictive Trade Practices", Cm. 727, proposals for new legislation governing anticompetitive agreements. We also indicated in that White Paper that we are reviewing the provisions in the Fair Trading Act 1973 and Competition Act 1980 dealing with the position of the individual anti-competitive firm.