The OFT said it will issue a fresh draft opinion by the end of May, then open a consultation period, before issuing its final opinion in the autumn.
The decision follows the arrival of a new chief executive, Sir John Fingleton, in October, and the departure of the leader of the case team that drew up the original draft opinion in February 2005.
The original draft opinion provoked a long campaign of resistance from magazine publishers, wholesalers and independent retailers, all worried about the implications of changing the current system, under which retailers source magazines and newspapers from a single wholesaler which is granted a monopoly for a particular territory.
The OFT wanted to allow retailers to be able to buy magazines, but not newspapers, from any wholesaler. Had it issued a final opinion it would have paved the way for the legality of current arrangements to be challenged under European competition law.
However, the final opinion was continually delayed and eventually fell into limbo as a result of the change of personnel at the OFT.
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