Supermarket giants' duopoly broken

CANBERRA: Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have agreed to end a practice which prevented smaller competitors from setting up in the same shopping centre.

The grocery market titans have promised the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission they will no longer insert restrictive provisions in supermarket leases.

Eighty per cent of existing business arrangements favouring Coles and Woolworths were abolished yesterday.

The move to end anti-competitive practices is expected to open up shopping centre space to Aldi, Franklins, Foodworks and IGA stores.

The competition regulator's chairman, Graeme Samuel, described the deal to break up the supermarket duopoly as a "major breakthrough" for grocery competition in Australia.

"Reducing the barriers to entry for new and expanding players opensthe possibility for consumers to have greater choices in where to shop,and potentially pay lower prices."

Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson said 80 per cent of the 750 existing leases favouring Coles and Woolworths would cease immediately. The remaining 148 would be phased out over five years, with no restrictive provisions allowed in new stores.

"Barriers to entry in shopping centres that have restricted competition for so long to the detriment of consumers are being torn down."

- AAP