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The Competition Authority has opened investigations into recent alliances between distribution groups in purchases, she said Monday. The alliances concerned are those between Auchan, Casino, Schiever and Metro, as well as those of Carrefour with Système U, and Carrefour with Tesco, she said.
The Authority has decided to "strengthen its investigations" on these purchases and has opened for each of them, "a survey in order to (evaluate) the competitive impact on the relevant markets, both upstream for suppliers, and downstream for consumers, "she said in a statement.
For three years, major distributors have one by one partnered with purchasing agreements in the food and non-food sectors in order to to benefit from a volume effect when negotiating their terms of supply with suppliers.
Nevertheless, according to the Autorité de la concurrence, these agreements "are distinguished from the agreements made in 2015 by their broader scope including a international component, and because s include not only national branded products (MDF) but also private label products (MDD) ", hence a reinforcement of its investigations.
Above all, allowing them to lower their prices further, they have become necessary at a time when competition from the US online trade giant Amazon is now also affecting the food sector. The joint purchasing center between Carrefour and Système U was announced in April, while the alliance between the French groups Auchan, Casino and Schiever, and the German Metro, was revealed at the end of June.
Called "Horizon ", this purchasing center should be operational in October, at the time of the annual trade negotiations. On July 2, Carrefour also announced a "strategic partnership" with the British distributor Tesco for joint purchases of products for their own brands and non-market goods.
The Competition Authority said it had "expanded "his inquiry into this partnership, which must also be finalized in September. In this context, "the services of instruction will have to question the suppliers concerned by these agreements as well as their competitors not concerned with the agreements", specifies the organization.
In this way, they invite "the suppliers, that whether they are concerned or not by these reconciliations, to approach her in order to inform her of any concerns they may have "in terms of possible effects on their activities," the statement added.
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