Consumer group seeks lifting of ban on below-cost selling
The Government’s Consumer Strategy Group has reportedly recommended that the ban on below-cost selling designed to protect small retailers be scrapped in the interest of competition.
Reports this morning said the group had made a range of recommendations on how to boost competition in a 150-page study compiled for the Cabinet.
The recommendations include the issuing of more liquor licences, the introduction of private bus services on public routes and the establishment of an independent consumer agency.
However, the most contentious is a call for the lifting of the ban on below-cost selling contained in the Groceries Order.
The order was introduced in 1987 to prevent large "out-of-town" retailers from undercutting small shops and putting them out of business by selling necessities like bread and milk at loss-making prices.
The CSG, however, has reportedly argued that the ban is no longer needed and that lifting it would benefit consumers.
Just last week, the Oireachtas committee on enterprise and small business recommended that the ban be retained to prevent large supermarkets from destroying town centres.
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