§ 21. Mr. WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure fair and open competition between companies in the United Kingdom. [86516]
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyThe Competition Act 1998 will introduce tough new powers to deal with anti-competitive agreements and abuses of market dominance when its main provisions are brought into force on 1 March 2000. These include strong powers of investigation, a power to take interim measures where necessary pending the completion of an investigation, powers to direct undertakings to bring infringements to an end and powers to impose penalties for breaches of the prohibitions. The Director General of Fair Trading has the main responsibility for enforcement of the new Act and extra resources have been provided to the Office of Fair Trading for that purpose.