§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects to receive the report of the Inquiry by the Director General of Fair Trading into the 1966 undertakings by petrol suppliers; and if he will publish it. [69761]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 8 February 1999]My right hon. Friend and I expect to receive advice from the Director General of Fair Trading regarding the 1966 petrol undertakings within the next month. The Director General's advice is given in confidence. I will announce my decision on the undertakings in due course.
§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what studies he has(a) made and (b) commissioned into contractual arrangements introduced by petrol suppliers since 1 January 1989; and what assessment he has made as to their conformity with fair competitive practice; [69758]
(2) what assessment he has made of the terms of the partnership licence agreement currently used by Esso Petroleum; [69756]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answers 8 February 1999]: My Department has neither made nor commissioned such studies or assessments since 1 January 1989. The Director General of Fair Trading is responsible for keeping the operation of markets and the state of competition under review.
The Office of Fair Trading was asked by Esso in 1992 to consider its new partnership licence agreement. OFT concluded that the terms were not manifestly unfair or unreasonable and therefore not in breach of paragraph 19 of the 1966 undertakings. The Petrol Retailers Association were informed of OFT's view on 8 December 1992. The OFT's view remains unchanged.
No other new petrol licence agreements have been considered by OFT.
The Director General has examined the petrol market a number of times since the MMC last reported in 1990, and on each occasion concluded that competition in the petrol market was effective and serving consumers well.
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§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how his Department monitors retail petrol industry gross margins and pump prices; and what assessment he has made of the monitoring's effectiveness in assuring consistency of treatment under(a) UK and (b) European competition law. [69757]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 8 February 1999]My Department collects information about pump prices from retailers. This information is published in Energy Trends and in the Advanced Energy Statistics Press Notice.
The Office of Fair Trading is responsible for monitoring markets and considering complaints about anti-competitive practices in the UK. OFT monitors gross margins on petrol and petrol pump prices using information from published sources and my Department. Successive studies of the supply of petrol in the UK by OFT, including that published in May 1998, have led OFT to conclude that competition in the petrol market is effective and serving consumers well.
The application of EC competition law is the responsibility of Directorate General IV of the European Commission.