The committee's long-awaited report on the Rudd Government's failed price-monitoring website called for the competition regulator to determine whether the Australian National Retailers Association breached the Trade Practices Act in its dealings with consumer group Choice over the website.

The website was scrapped days before it was due to be relaunched by Choice in June. Initially run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, it was widely criticised for being out of date and irrelevant to shoppers keen to reduce their grocery bills.

In its submission to the inquiry, Choice argued that, through the retailers association, the big chains were able to band together and stop the website progressing. ''It was our view that Woolworths and Coles hid behind ANRA to basically sabotage an initiative that would have bought much-needed competition to this sector,'' Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said.

But the association has rejected claims it breached competition laws when it negotiated on behalf of supermarket chains Woolworths, Coles and Franklins starting in May this year.

''ANRA believes that there were a number of difficulties associated with the Choice website model,'' the group's chief executive officer, Margy Osmond, said in a statement. ''Choice's model was never going to provide real-time shelf prices that it promised, making it of little use to consumers.''

The association adhered to the Trade Practices Act, Ms Osmond said. ''ANRA has always been mindful and observant of the requirements of the law in all of its dealings.''

She said the committee had failed to make reference to the difficulties associated with the website and that Choice was asking for the supermarkets to conduct the equivalent of 2 billion price checks a year. ''That's a huge task but also a meaningless one, as the price data collected would be out of date.''

But Choice has welcomed the report, saying it dispels ''mythology and misinformation'' surrounding the website's end.

In their dissenting report, the committee's two Government senators said claims the site was a waste of money ''fail to recognise that the ACCC successfully ran and operated the Grocery Choice website for six months'' and pointed to other Government measures to improve competition.