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Antitrust Issues

FTC Releases Grocery Industry Slotting Allowances Study
The Federal Trade Commission has released the results of a limited study (five products, seven retailers, six manufacturers, two brokers) on Slotting Fees & Allowances in the grocery industry. David Balto, antitrust attorney with the law firm White & Case, provided a short synopsis of the Study immediately following its release.

The Study defined slotting allowances as,"one-time payments the supplier makes to a retailer as a condition for the initial placement of the supplier's product on the retailer's store shelves or for initial access to the retailer's warehouse space."

Some of the Study's observations, according to Balto:

• "The surveyed retailers reported that slotting allowances helped to defray the costs ... associated with new product introduction. Some of the information provided by the study tended to support this rationale, although other information raised questions ..."
• "The study details the costs that retailers incur when they replace one product with another, and also observes that new product introductions can be risky. Some sources report a failure rate of approximately 70% for new products."

You can read the complete Study results by clicking on the title above.

Antitrust Roundtable Discussion on Category Captains held in June 2003
Over 65 antitrust policymakers, business and legal advisors, and academics debated the antitrust implications of recent but increasingly widespread retail business practice known as Category Captains (CC) at a roundtable forum in June 2003. You can view a PDF of the discussion (requires Adobe Reader, a free download) by clicking on the title above.

Coupon Dispensers Not Considered Anti-trust
An article from Antitrust & Trade Regulation Report

The Robinson-Patman Act
An amendment to the Clayton Act, the law that applies to cooperative advertising and other promotional allowance programs.

Guides for Advertising Allowances and Other Merchandising Payments and Services.
Guidelines adopted by the FTC to provide assistance to businesses seeking to comply with Sections 2 (d) and 2 (e) of the Robinson-Patman Act.

Bulletins:

• FTC Rules on Minimum Advertising Pricing (MAP) Practices in Music Industry
• Guides for Advertising Allowances and Other Merchandising Payments and Services
• Minimum Advertising Price (MAP) Programs
• Supreme Court Ruling on Maximum Pricing Policies

Those interested in knowing more about these antitrust laws should check out the Federal Trade Commission homepage. Those wishing to apply these laws to their own business practices should consult the advice of their own legal counsel.

Updated as of 09/01/2006