§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment she has made of the impact of vertical agreements, with particular reference to suppliers using selective distribution, on competitive practices and consumers. [44408]
§ Mrs. Beckett[holding answer 9 June 1998]: Recent work on vertical agreements has been undertaken in the context of the European Commission Green Paper on Vertical Restraints (Distribution Agreements) in EC Competition Policy and of the Competition Bill that is currently before Parliament. In addition the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) have investigated vertical agreements in a number of specific sectors of the economy.
Wide consultations were held on the European Commission Green Paper during which more than 80 responses were received. The assessment of the Commission's proposal also took into account the views 101W of the OFT and the earlier OFT Research paper on Vertical Restraints and Competition Policy (published in December 1996).