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CMA ‘warned government in spring about PCR firms’

The Competition and Markets Authority warned government officials back in April and May that consumers could face risks from the Covid PCR testing industry, it has been reported.

The business and competition regulator told the BBC that it “provided advice and market analysis” to officials from the Department of Health and Social Care.

“It said the advice detailed potential market and consumer risks,” reported the BBC.

The BBC report added: “The government has said it was provided with some general market analysis from the CMA on the potential implications for the PCR testing market and that its advice informed the government’s approach on the private provider list.”

It comes after the CMA was criticised by its former chairman, Lord Tyrie, who said the competition regulator had been “too slow to react” to complaints about testing providers.

The travel trade and consumers have slated high prices and poor service from many of the 400-plus test firms listed on the government’s website.

Earlier this month, health secretary Sajid Javid asked the CMA to investigate “excessive” pricing and “exploitative practices” among PCR Covid travel test firms.

The CMA initially said it would take up to a month to report back.

Last Friday (August 13), health secretary Sajid Javid announced a “rapid internal review” of the pricing and service standards of all providers of day two and eight tests.

Furthermore, the cost of NHS Test and Trace tests for international arrivals is being reduced from £88 to £68 for green or fully vaccinated arrivals from amber destinations, and from £170 to £136 for two tests for those arriving from amber countries who are not fully vaccinated.

However, this was branded as no more than a “token step forward”.

Photograph: Viacheslav Lopatin/Shutterstock

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