Probe finds no price abuse

The Office of Fair Competition has come across no wrongdoing in its investigations into the cereals and cheese markets.

In fact, the office said allegations of collusion in the cereals market were unfounded, with the hikes in the selling price being attributed to more expensive raw materials.

Although the inquiry confirmed that retail prices for cheese and other dairy products had gone up, there was no evidence that these were out of line with corresponding price rises in international wholesale markets.

Eurostat figures released in June showed that Malta registered the second highest increase in the prices of food in the euro zone, going up by 9.7 per cent in the 12-month period ending in April, compared to a 6.2 per cent average increase in the euro zone.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had said at the time that the government was "looking deeply" into the matter through the Competition Authority to see whether there was a lack of effective competition and whether this was affecting the surge of food prices locally, looking specifically at cheese and cereals.

If the results showed any wrongdoing, he said, the authorities would have to intervene.

The world has been grappling with something of a food crisis over the past few months, with the cost of some basic items, like pasta, bread, milk, oils, cereals and butter, seeing a sudden jump.

When contacted, a spokesman for the Office of Fair Competition said the Office investigated an alleged collusion in the cereals market, but found that in most instances, when considering the total addition in the selling price, it was lower than the total increase in the cost price.

The inquiry on cheese was to establish whether the local higher prices were disproportionate compared to international price increases, and whether there was any indication of collusion between suppliers to manipulate prices.

The Office operations directorate is monitoring prices of a number of products to detect any possible breach of the Competition Act, which aims to counter abusive practices - either through cartels or abuse of dominance.