[File Photo]

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission will be instituting its first-ever competition case against non-honest supermarkets.

FCCC Chief Legal Counsel, David Solvalu says after the post-COVID-19 market monitoring efforts, they had identified concerns within the supermarket sector.

He says their preliminary assessments indicated a disparity in the offering of rebates, specials, and related pricing practices by some.

Solvalu says historically, FCCC has used a soft-touch approach with competition regulation, hoping to allow market forces to play out and self-regulation to prevail.

“We think it is time we take a more proactive approach or a more direct approach to this enforcement, where we detect cases, where we see clear breaches and competition is very important for the economy.”

FCCC Chief Executive, Joel Abraham says this will be a history for Fiji as they have never before had any cases to do with market competition.

Abraham says this is the first time they will be taking on a case to do with violation of market competition rules, highlighting anti-competitive conduct.

He says they will not sit by and allow the market to continuously engage in practices that undermine the competition because competition ultimately means consumer welfare is improved.