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Competition Appeal Tribunal dismisses appeal against OFT decision to close competition investigation

178/06    15 December 2006

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has found in favour of the OFT in a case relating to the closure of an investigation purely on the basis that it no longer constituted an administrative priority for the OFT.

In June 2005 the OFT opened a formal investigation following a complaint by Casting Book Limited regarding an alleged boycott in the supply of celebrity merchandise, which related to anti-competitive behaviour, in breach of the Chapter 1 prohibition of the Competition Act. The investigation was subsequently closed in February 2006.

This decision was appealed to the CAT, by Casting Book Limited, who claimed that the OFT had reached a non-infringement decision which the tribunal should review. However the CAT ruled yesterday that the OFT did not take a decision capable of being appealed to the CAT and therefore Casting Book's appeal was inadmissible.

Vincent Smith, Senior Director for Competition at the OFT, said:

'The OFT welcomes the CAT's judgment. We are committed to focusing our resources on high impact cases. The decision confirms our ability to close cases where we think our resources are better focused on other work.'

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