Recent Legal and Regulatory Developments in Slotting Allowances and Category Management

Abstract

DAVID BALTO is a partner, White and Case L.L.P. He is the former head of the Policy Office, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission. Slotting allowances and category management are increasingly the subject of antitrust litigation and antitrust enforcement actions. In the past two years, slotting allowances received greater attention before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB), in terms of both distribution practices and mergers. Several cases are in litigation, and in Spring 2002, two important decisions were handed down that begin to illuminate the legal rules addressing slotting allowances. The controversy over slotting allowances appears as vibrant as it has for the past few years, with increasing attention likely in the future. What were the major recent developments involving slotting allowances and category management?