“Everyone” agrees that the competition is too bad in the grocery market.
One of those who have said he is impatient is businessman Jan Christian Vestre.
He has pointed out that the problems with poor competition have been there ever since he went to kindergarten himself. And he has said he will do something about it.
But what has the minister actually done?
Pretty small, we are to believe the Conservative Party’s representative in the business committee at the Storting, Lene Westgaard-Halle.
– Not a priority
– It is absolutely incredible that Vestre has not reached the goal with several of the measures that the Storting adopted in May 2022, she says.
It is just over 16 months since the Storting adopted 12 measures to improve competition, but so far only one measure has been fully implemented.
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– The government’s efforts to improve grocery competition are failing. I would call it a failure, says Westgaard-Halle.
Westgaard-Halle believes it is urgent to take action.
– Food prices go up much more in Norway than in Europe. In Norway, prices have gone up by almost ten per cent, at the same time it is under four per cent in Europe, she says and adds:
– It is worrying when we have such high prices in Norway before.
Western silent
The Minister of Industry has repeatedly emphasized that improving competition in the grocery market is a high priority.
Nevertheless, it has been impossible to get an answer from Vestre as to why it is taking so long, and why only one of 12 measures has been implemented.
Nettavisen has been trying for more than a week to get an answer from Vestre.
From the ministry, it has been promised that Vestre would respond first on Monday this week, and then a response was promised yesterday, Tuesday.
So far, the questions Nettavisen has sent to Vestre have not been answered:
Is there better competition in the grocery market now than when the Government started its efforts in the area? Or how is it marked? Why is only one of the 12 points the Storting adopted completely implemented? When can we expect all 12 points to be completed? You have said that you are impatient when it comes to improving competition in the grocery market, are you satisfied with the pace and progress of the work?
– Put on the shelf
Lene Westgaard-Halle believes that the situation for Norwegian consumers could be better if the Government were more aggressive.
– There are several of the measures that would have been natural to start a long time ago. He has simply put the regulation to prevent price discrimination on the shelf, says Westgaard-Halle.
The regulation among the 11 measures which, among other things, are about:
Measures to promote competition Lower the threshold for when players are considered dominant Prevent abuse of market power Regulations for the chains’ own brands Measures to ensure transparency in the value chain
The only point that is completely on target is the cessation of so-called “negative servitudes”. These are agreements to prevent competitors from being able to establish themselves nearby.
– Should have done half
– Vestre has said there is much more going on?
– Vestre talks a lot about everything he has to do, but unfortunately there is little action behind all the words.
She thinks it is far too bad that only one of 12 measures is on target 16 months after the Storting’s decision.
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– I think he should in any case be able to implement half of the measures now that we are halfway through the Storting period. At one point or another, the government must start doing something, says Westgaard-Halle.
– The competition has become worse
Not only is it going too slowly, says Høyre. They believe that several of the Government’s actions actually work against their purpose.
– In any case, they must not weaken the competition, as they are doing now, says Westgaard-Halle.
– They ended up with the most expensive agricultural settlement of all time, but that pushes the costs onto the consumers. The government is happy to pretend that the agricultural settlement makes food cheaper. It doesn’t, she says.
– Would you say that the measures taken by the government so far have rather weakened competition than strengthened it?
– Yes. Look at dairy. That’s 15 percent of our shopping cart. In dairy, Tine thus has a whopping 75 per cent of the market. There is a very strong market concentration, much stronger than the shops have. So the government chooses to cut the measures that will provide more competition in the dairy market, says Westgaard-Halle.
– They contribute to weakening the competition, it has gotten worse, she says.
2023-10-04 19:50:36
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