Parliamentary White Paper 27 (2019-2020): Food retail and competition — the battle for customers.

The present White Paper's objective is to place the competitive situation in the food retail value chain in a larger context, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of its functioning. The White Paper presents trends and links in the value chain, as well as some of the key players. Furthermore, reference is made to factors that have a direct or indirect effect on competition and some of the factors that the government believes have the greatest effect on competition. Finally, assessments are made of what the food retail market will look like in the future. The White Paper contains the following three Sections: I. The food retail market – a market for all; II. Food retail and competition; III. A food retail value chain for the future.
The White Paper acknowledges that the competitive environment in Norway is challenging, with few players, and that it is demanding for new operators to establish themselves. It identifies a series of intended measures, which are explained throughout the document. Some of these measures include: to introduce a permanent focus on the food retail sector in the Norwegian Competition Authority; to establish a permanent Food Retail Authority to enforce the act on good commercial practices in the food retail industry; assess the competitive effects of the market power of food retail groupings several markets, and whether there is a need for new instruments or changes in current regulations; assess whether competition factors can be included as explicit consideration in the Planning and Building Ac; map the extent of competition behavior that restricts access to food retail stores; whether there is real access to wholesale services for new business operators; assess the need for regulation addressing access to wholesale services and its design; map the scope of exclusivity agreements between food retail groupings and suppliers, and assess how such exclusivity agreements affect the product availability for consumers in stores; assess the competitive effects of franchise contracts in the food retail market; and explore whether there is a need for new tools in competition policy to deal with possible future competition challenges created by commercial and technological developments. The document addresses in depth issues related to public health, the environment, climate, and innovation, and how these related to the food retail sector, mapping challenges and opportunities.
The measures laid down by the Government shall in the long term be able to ease market entry barriers, strengthen competition in the food retail value chain, increase consumer welfare and make more efficient use of resources.