On 28 July 2008, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) published an order deferring the date for the filing of the defences of all defendants in the action brought under section 47A of the Competition Act by Grampian Country Food Group and others against Sanofi-Aventis, Rhodia, F.Hoffman-La Roche, BASF and Frank Wright Limited (see CAT publishes details of further damages claim in relation to vitamins cartel). This action relates to damages arising from the European Commission's 2001 vitamins cartel decision. A similar claim for damages has been brought by BCL Old Co Limited, Deans Foods and others against BASF and Frank Wright Limited (the BCL case) (see BCL Old Co and others v BASF AG and others).

A hearing was held in the BCL case on 7 July 2008 to determine as a preliminary issue whether the action is time barred and, in particular, whether an appeal by BASF to the Court of First Instance in relation to the Commission's decision to impose a fine (as opposed to the decision that BASF had infringed the competition rules) suspended the two year time limit for bringing a claim for damages under Rule 31 of the CAT's Rules (see Legal update, CAT publishes transcript of preliminary issues hearing in vitamins damages claim). As the same issue would arise in the Grampian case, the time limit for the defendants in that case to serve their defences has been deferred until the fourteenth day following the handing down of the ruling on the preliminary issue in the BCL case.