Tobacco companies face criticism as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has accused them of unlawful practices.
Retailers such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons along with tobacco groups Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher are accused of arranging to swap future pricing information.
The OFT said in 2000 and 2003 similar understandings between tobacco companies limited the retailers’ ability “to determine its selling price independently”.
An OFT spokeswoman said on BBC “This is not about price fixing; this is about retail price co-ordination, which is also illegal.
“We have information that manufacturers and retailers were indirectly exchanging about future prices.”
This is an awkward situation for the retailers and tobacco companies involved. The OFT will go about their investigation regardless of the cooperation from the companies.
At this point the best thing they can do is release an honest statement to the press, keeping the media and the public as happy and as informed as possible. This will initially avoid media havoc, at least in the short-term future.
As long as the companies involved are seen to be as cooperative as possible, leaving the OFT to get on with their investigation, then regardless of the outcome at least they appear to have been supportive of the process.
Media Mentor can help companies in situations like this, providing essential advice on crisis management and how to deal with probing questions from journalists.
Call us on 0800 032 1127.
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