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Giant Food Inc. has petitioned the Â鶹´«Ã½ Trade Commission to reopen and vacate a 1964 order. The order prohibits Giant from inducing its suppliers to offer, or receiving from its suppliers, compensation for promotional services or facilities on terms that Giant knows are not proportionally equal to the terms those suppliers offer other retailers. Giant submitted the petition in accordance with the FTC's sunsetting policy, under which the agency presumes that it is in the public interest to terminate competition orders more than 20 years old.

The petition will be subject to public comment for 30 days, until July 13. Giant is based in Landover, Maryland.

The 1964 order stems from a 1955 FTC complaint against Giant. The FTC alleged in that complaint that Giant induced some of its suppliers to give it compensation for promotional services Giant provided for their products, knowing that the suppliers had not offered compensation for similar services on proportionally equal terms to Giant's competitors. The Commission ultimately issued an order prohibiting Giant from engaging in such conduct, and the matter was upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Comments on the petition should be addressed to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Copies of the petition and of the 1964 order are available from the FTC's Public Reference Branch, Room 130, same address as above.

(FTC Docket No. 6459)