Competition Authority in raid on IFA offices

SENIOR executives at the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) were stunned by a raid on their Dublin headquarters yesterday by some 15 Competition Authority officers investigating alleged milk price-fixing.

Accompanied by gardaí, the Competition Authority seized around a dozen boxes of documents in the raid.

A statement said it was entitled to investigate “anti-competitive behaviour” in accordance with the Competition Act, 2002.

“This search is part of a current authority investigation and therefore it is inappropriate for us to comment on the matter,” said Gerald FitzGerald, director of the Competition Authority’s Cartels Division.

As the IFA has no role to play in setting milk price, milk industry sources were at a loss to explain the relevance to possible milk price-fixing of any documents that might be stored in the Irish Farm Centre, Dublin.

IFA president, John Bryan, said he was appalled by the Competition Authority’s raid, which he said came on foot of allegations by retailers. The authority has confirmed the raid took place, but does not otherwise comment on ongoing investigations. The authority made no other raid as part of yesterday’s swoop.

Mr Bryan said: “It is totally unacceptable that taxpayers’ money is being wasted to target farm families struggling to cope with increased costs and collapsing margins for their milk, while the retail multiples pillage the profits out of the food supply chain, screwing both suppliers and consumers.

“Farmers will be disgusted that the Competition Authority is clearly backing greedy retailers and turning a blind eye to their abuse of suppliers.”

Mr Bryan said it is incredible that the Competition Authority would deploy a large team of 15 officers in a smash-and-grab raid regarding the supply of milk to retailers, instead of using their resources to tackle the multiples.

“The facts are: the farmer’s share of the consumer price of liquid milk is at the lowest level ever, and to suggest that farmers have any power over the retail multiples is nonsense,” said Mr Bryan. “The Competition Authority continues to ignore the substantial margins enjoyed by the retailers and the lack of competition in the grocery market.

“The IFA have highlighted time and again the inequity in the food supply chain, where powerful retailers dictate the terms and put the livelihoods of producers under threat. Today’s action will be seen by farmers as a direct attack on primary producers, and can be contrasted with the incompetence of regulators in dealing with financial institutions and others who have devastated the country.”