Susan Singleton Solicitor, principal, Singletons



Sir; The recent OFT raids and pricing investigations might make supermarkets feel their sector, which arguably has delivered better value and low prices to the consumer than others, is being unfairly targeted.

Morrisons has bitten back, forcing the OFT to pay £100,000 damages for allegedly defaming it in a press release about the on-going milk pricing investigation.

However they are not alone. In the same fortnight the OFT began a new case against 112 construction sector companies accused of engaging in cover pricing and compensation payments.  It has been quite a month for the OFT. 

The allegations over tobacco apparently involve agreements between manufacturers and supermarkets over the resale price of cigarettes. Supermarkets agreed not to resell the cigarettes at less than an agreed price, or at more than a certain price percentage less than another manufacturer's product.

As a competition lawyer every week I have requests from clients for advice on pricing issues of this kind.  Even mere price discussions can land companies in trouble, or wording in emails appears incriminating when taken out of context. The answer is to ensure all staff know what they can and cannot say, how to conduct themselves in price discussions and to keep careful notes of why particular decisions on price were taken.

Fines of 10% of worldwide group turnover, damages actions by victims and the bad publicity which ensues mean companies need to take the competition rules seriously.

Unfortunately my clients who have been fined in the past tend to be the only ones who then institute comprehensive compliance programmes and training for staff. Once bitten, twice shy.

It's GM time, so why is it taking so long? Tony Combes Woking



Sir; The FDF is right to ask "Could GM be the solution to our global food crisis?" (The Grocer, 26 April, p24). Coming the week after Kevin Hawkins agreed on your pages that sound science should replace soundbites, we now have the country's grocers and food companies, together with the majority of farmers (NFU) joining with family doctors (BMA) who agree with top scientists (Royal Society) that GM crops and food are just as safe as their conventional equivalents. To top it all, even UK shoppers are less concerned about GM foods than they are about eggs, for example.

This is some food chain turnaround from just a decade ago when Tony Blair's government refused to stand by the veracity of its own already over-zealous biotech regulations.

So what's stopping us from joining with the 12m farmers who chose the benefits of growing 282m acres of GM crops in 23 countries last year? Not the FDF, who saw the light at the end of tunnel when the retailers weren't even looking for the entrance. Why, it's the biotech companies of course.

There's no doubt why they are now in the final year of field-testing saline-resistant and drought-tolerant GM crops - but alas not in the UK. Remember what happened during the Farm Scale Trials?

So three cheers for Greenpeace, the Soil Association and those Friends of the Earth. Here is another fine example of how to attract new converts while the rest of us pay for promised environmental membership benefits.

No? Well perhaps we just have to wait another decade for the trickle-down effect.

Debate is good, but don't dismiss organic Alex Smith Chair, FDF Organics Group



Sir; In his recent Second Opinion column, Kevin Hawkins, former director general of the British Retail Consortium, reopened a vital debate about the future direction of food policy in these turbulent times of shortages and rising prices. He called for more investment in GM and for 'niche' markets such as organic to be disregarded ('Invest in GM, not in niche markets,' The Grocer, 19 April, p23).

However, as organic is now a €25bn market in the European Union, growing at 20% per annum, it cannot really be described as 'niche' anymore, let alone be disregarded in such a cavalier fashion.

By way of contrast, the size of the GM market in the EU is almost zero and not growing, which should, under any criteria, qualify as 'niche'.

All would agree that, in these challenging times, we need a debate to be based on sound science and a pragmatic, sustainable and balanced policy agenda. And despite what Hawkins thinks, organic production will have a role to play in whatever solutions emerge.

It's the ideal time to embrace agencies Russell Johnston Director of Client Services, Sales Placement Contract People



Sir; In response to Mark Choueke's excellent article on Manufacturers' views on promotions, (The Grocer, 26 April, p30) I would like to point out that it is little wonder manufacturers struggle to secure a return on their investments when approximately one third of outlets fail to execute promotions.

Yet there seems to be a growing wave of belief that there is increasing goodwill among retailers and manufacturers over the shared handling of promotional activity.

Surely now is the ideal time for suppliers and retailers to embrace specialist field marketing agencies into the promotional planning and execution process. This would enable promotions to take massive strides towards 100% compliance and execution from the very start of the promotional cycle, thereby ensuring the drive for profit, not just volume, is a goal shared by all.