Dunnes Stores is taking legal action against Irish consumer affairs watchdog Carmel Foley over the Groceries Order - at a time when she has started proceedings against both it and Tesco for alleged breaches of the order.
The Dunnes action, to be decided by the High Court in Dublin, centres on whether nappies are among the items covered by the order, which has banned below-cost selling by retailers in the Republic for the past 17 years.
The company claims they are not included and has challenged Foley’s demand for invoices and documents as part of her investigation into complaints of below-cost selling.
A spokesman for her office confirmed that the case was about the interpretation of the regulation and said she would be defending the action.
According to the official version of the order, introduced, after the H Williams supermarket chain collapsed following a price war with Dunnes, it covers “grocery goods and such household necessaries as are ordinarily sold in grocery shops”.
Specifically excluded from the order are fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, a constant source of complaint by Irish farmers, who claim that their prices are deliberately depressed and their produce frequently used as loss leaders.
Foley’s court action against Dunnes and Tesco relates to special frozen food and baby food promotions that offered price cuts of 50-60% and sparked protests from RGDATA, the independent grocers’ organisation.
The case is due before the Dublin District Court later this month with the Dunnes’ High Court challenge - which would punch a significant hole in the order, if successful - down for decision at around the same time.
The Dunnes action, to be decided by the High Court in Dublin, centres on whether nappies are among the items covered by the order, which has banned below-cost selling by retailers in the Republic for the past 17 years.
The company claims they are not included and has challenged Foley’s demand for invoices and documents as part of her investigation into complaints of below-cost selling.
A spokesman for her office confirmed that the case was about the interpretation of the regulation and said she would be defending the action.
According to the official version of the order, introduced, after the H Williams supermarket chain collapsed following a price war with Dunnes, it covers “grocery goods and such household necessaries as are ordinarily sold in grocery shops”.
Specifically excluded from the order are fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, a constant source of complaint by Irish farmers, who claim that their prices are deliberately depressed and their produce frequently used as loss leaders.
Foley’s court action against Dunnes and Tesco relates to special frozen food and baby food promotions that offered price cuts of 50-60% and sparked protests from RGDATA, the independent grocers’ organisation.
The case is due before the Dublin District Court later this month with the Dunnes’ High Court challenge - which would punch a significant hole in the order, if successful - down for decision at around the same time.
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