The Norwegian Competition Authority has been asked by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry to contribute to the Government’s follow-up of the Parliament’s decision on measures to promote competition in the grocery market. The Government will increase the efforts to enforce the Norwegian Competition Act in the grocery sector and allocated in that regard, on 9 July 2019, an additional amount of NOK 6.5 million to the Authority for the current year.
The funds will be used:
• to increase the capacity of the Authority with 6-7 full-time employees, and establish a stable core of employees who will focus on the grocery sector
• to prioritize increased visibility and closer contact with market players
• to increase the follow-up of tip-offs and complaints
• to investigate more cases concerning possible breaches of the Competition Act.
The Norwegian Competition Authority has also been asked to contribute to the preparation of the planned White Paper on the grocery market, which is to be presented during the 2020 spring session of the Parliament.
– We are well underway with the work that the Ministry has asked us to carry out and have established a grocery task force in that regard. Economist Sigurd Birkeland has been appointed leader of the task force, and expects to have the other members of the task force in place in August, says Director General Lars Sørgard.