The Competition Council has decided not to investigate the pricing of grain drying

The Ministry of Agriculture, which had requested an assessment of the pricing of grain procurement and drying services, (MAF) did not provide sufficient data to launch an investigation into restrictions on competition in the grain sector, the Competition Council has announced.

According to the Council, the Ministry did not specify any particular companies that might have committed an infringement, and therefore there is no legal basis for a further investigation.

“The circumstances mentioned do not provide the authority with a legal basis to launch an investigation into an infringement,” the Council’s statement reads.

In its letter to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Council states that, based on the information available to the Council and publicly available data, there is insufficient evidence to reasonably suspect the existence of agreements between market participants that restrict competition.

“When deciding whether to launch an investigation, the Council must rely on objective evidence that would give rise to a reasonable suspicion that companies operating in the market may have coordinated their actions. Similar behaviour by economic operators in the market, in the absence of other circumstances supporting such a suspicion, is not in itself sufficient grounds to launch an investigation into a possible infringement“, the authority explains.

It emphasised that, should new circumstances come to light, it could launch an investigation on its own initiative, and urged anyone with information about possible infringements to submit it to the Council.

According to the Council, public statements regarding observed infringements hinder the ability to investigate them, as they allow time for evidence to be destroyed; therefore, allegations should not be made public but submitted to the authority as soon as possible.

As reported by BNS, the Ministry of Agriculture has approached the Council regarding suspicions that prices may be set in a non-independent manner and are unjustified, and that there may therefore be prohibited agreements or other factors restricting competition in the market.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, such pricing makes it virtually impossible for farmers to choose a more economically favourable service provider, which enables companies to increase service prices without any real justification and undermines the profitability of grain farmers’ operations.

For their part, grain processors have stated that companies set their prices independently, taking costs into account.