Bread+Prices+and+Competition+Probe,+FAWU



=FAWU Media Release, 24 January 2008=


 * Bread Prices and Competition Probe**

The Food and Allied Workers' Union [FAWU] welcomes the confirmation by the Competition Commission that they are currently investigative anti-competitive conduct in the milling industry, in addition to their investigations in the bread industry.

This is because, as FAWU maintained all along, the same 'big four players' in the bread industry; that Tiger Brands, Pioneer Foods, Premier Foods and FoodCorp; are occupying this 'big four' status in the milling industry, both the wheat and maize sub-sectors.

However, we call on the Commission to go beyond just the price fixing or cartel practices and investigate erection of barriers to entry and arrangements on sourcing wheat grain supplies and geographic demarcation that go with this. I addition, we have reason to believe that players in the grain silo and infrastructure handling industry are implicated in the anti-competitive conduct in relation to their role in the wheat grain-bread baking value-chain.

Regarding the latest coordinated increment in the prices of bread, we call on the Commission to play very stringent in the punishment of these big four players should they be found guilty of anti-competitive conduct or contravening the Competition Act.

Meanwhile, we are calling on the amendment of the Competition Act so as to ensure that those individuals involved in price fixing or other anti-competitive conduct face possible jail terms and are the ones liable for the payment of penalties and with the chief executive held responsible for such law-breaking actions by their colleagues.

We will be meeting with the Competition Commission in order to provide them with more indicators or pointers of possible anti-competitive activities in the bread value-chain as well as in other product value-chains, such as dairy products.

We are looking forward to a meeting; comprising of government, the bread industry, trade unions and civil society, convened by the Minister of Land and Agriculture to discuss the skyrocketing bread prices.

We further welcome the resolution of the ANC Lekgotla meeting on the subject of food prices generally, including on strengthening competition authorities and competition law (presumably through amendments) and through government intervention.

for General Secretary Katishi Masemola**
 * Released by FAWU media officer, Dominique Swartz

By e-mail

368 words