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Several politicians react negatively to proposals to ban private labels (EMV) in the grocery industry.
Last week, Nettavisen wrote that experts are warning against banning their own brands in the grocery industry. Dag Fossen, an active and veteran debater for the Norwegian Farmers and Small Producers Association, told Nettavisen that he wants to end the chains that own the brands they sell.
This was a tougher statement than the one he made the week before, when he said that he wanted to ban chains from reaching a certain size. He received the support of several politicians.
On December 17, the Industry and Trade Committee will present its recommendation to the Storting on the new report to the Storting for the food market.
– We will probably write that we see challenges and benefits with it. We may need to take a closer look at EMV, but banning it is unthinkable, says Storting report spokesperson Kårstein Eidem Løvaas (Conservatives).
You understand that Fossen sees challenges with EMV, but banning it is a very long step.
– I was surprised that politicians also prohibited it. It directly interferes with a free market and a free form of organization, and I don’t think it is possible to implement a ban.
– It is difficult to take the proposal seriously, says Løvaas.
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Want more competition
Løvaas believes that EMV is good for consumers, because it provides diversity and cheaper products.
This is also the reason why Frp is against the EMV ban, precisely because it offers consumers more options in stores.
– I’m amazed that SV and Sp ban products that are cheaper than the big and dominant brands, says FRP politician Morten Ørsal Johansen on the Nettavisen business committee.
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He says that the party wants more competition in the grocery sector, both at the chain and product range level.
– A proposal to prohibit chains from also producing their own products will not generate more competition. It looks like SV and Sp have their hands deep down in the pockets of Orkla, Mills, Nortura and the other dominant players, says Johansen.
– The control must be carried out
Terje Aasland is on the Labor Party’s trade committee. He believes that the Norwegian Competition Authority and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority should keep EMV under surveillance, lest it lead to less diversity in stores.
“Therefore, a study and control of the purchase and sale conditions of the chains must be carried out for all goods, in order to be able to discover the different conditions of competition between the chains’ own brands and the independent brands” he recently told Dagens Næringsliv.
– In addition, we believe that supervision should be exercised over the development of own brands, since the chains are increasingly taking control of the production stage, he said.
The Liberal Party also believes that a survey and control of the purchase and sale conditions of both EMV chains and merchandise from other brands should be carried out.
– The Liberal Party is not in favor of the EMV ban, but we believe it has some problematic aspects, both in terms of sales and production, Liberal Party politician André Skjelstad, who is also part of the business committee, tells Nettavisen.
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Skjelstad believes that we must implement clearer labeling of ingredients and the country of origin of products.
– Consumers need to know what they are buying. The chains have a lot of power and we must take steps to ensure equal competition between products sold in the grocery industry, he says.
– Can stimulate innovation
Løvaas in the Conservative Party believes that EMV is a natural part of the trade, although there may be challenges associated with it.
– If you become too dominant and get too large a share of the grocery market, you can challenge innovation and diversity. But today we are not in Norway, he says.
– We also see that it can stimulate more innovation, he says.
Løvaas refers here to Aass Bryggeri’s remarks in the Nettavisen article last week.
– The own brands of the supermarket chains are our competitors, and we only have to work to make our brand bigger and better. It’s the consumers who decide, and if they choose our products, we must work with them, Christian AK Aass, CEO of Aass Brewery, told Nettavisen last week.
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