Request to the Government Accountability Office

Comptroller General of the U. S.                                                                                  

Government Accountability Office

441 G St., NW

Washington, DC 20548

Comptroller General Gene Dodaro:

            This is a request the Government Accountability Office:

1.    Complete a 20-day ‘Quick Look’ listing the top 5 “cost drivers” of significant cost increases in:

a.     Food and nonalcoholic beverages;

b.    Prescription drugs;

c.     Housing and utilities to include electricity;

d.    Gas and other motor fuel;

e.     Motor vehicle parts and accessories and;

f.     Food supply chain establishments for post-farm activities that transform raw food in to finished food products.

2.    Complete an audit/investigation of the top 5 companies of the items above and determine if any of the 5 companies used, and are using the means to achieve or maintain a monopoly.  Among other areas you deem necessary to audit/investigate:

a.     List top ‘show-stoppers’ that unnecessarily slow or prevent companies in supply chains from contract costs and schedules;

b.    Test the restraints of the Supply Chain for their reasonableness by balancing any harmful competitive effects against offsetting benefits;

c.     Evaluate contracts that may violate the antitrust laws to reduce competition among firms at the same level (e.g., among retailers or among wholesalers) or prevent new firms from entering the market.  Please include among others you select:

                                              i.     Price fixing agreements, horizontal restraints of trade, or group boycotts;

                                             ii.     Price fixing, bid rigging, or 2 market division or allocation schemes;

                                           iii.     Exclusive supply contracts that prevent a supplier(s) from selling inputs to another buyer;

                                           iv.     Exclusive purchase agreements requiring a dealer to sell the products of only one manufacturer;

                                             v.     Other exclusionary or predatory acts, among others, such as:

1.    Tying;

2.    Predatory pricing and;

3.    Refusal to deal.

                                           vi.     Markets with few sellers or those dominated by one seller. In these markets, manufacturer- or supplier-imposed restraints may make it difficult for newcomers or firms with innovative products to find outlets and reach consumers.

            Please inform me if you need any Federal Trade Commission investigators, expertise, or other resources on your audit/investigation.  ________ will be my point of contact on this audit/investigation.