Campaigners have protested at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, calling for more powers to be accorded to the forthcoming supermarket watchdog.

The watchdog has been in planning for several years, and although the government has said the policy is progressing through parliament as planned, many have expressed concerns over whether the ombudsperson will have any power to challenge abusive practices in the groceries supply chain. The adjudicator will assess the practices of the largest retailers in the UK.

A coalition of anti-poverty and environmental groups staged the demonstration last week to highlight the need for an adjudicator replete with the power to fine supermarkets which use their power within the supply chain to abuse smaller players. The 'big four' supermarkets in particular wield phenomenal power; Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrison's alone account for three quarters of all groceries sold in the UK.  

On Wednesday 17th October demonstrators from ActionAid, Friends of the Earth, Speak, Traidcraft and War on Want rallied outside the business department to demand ministers give the adjudicator the power to fine retailers found to be in breach of the Grocery Supply Chain Code of Practice, which is currently only a voluntary set of guidelines.

The charities said that supermarkets’ dictatorial power over the supply chain has resulted in abuse of workers and the environment and that an ombudsperson with the power to fine as well as merely 'name and shame' companies flouting the code is essential to create a sustainable atmosphere. The power to enforce the code, as well as oversee relationships within the supply chain, will be necessary for the watchdog to enact meaningful changes and prevent supermarkets shifting extra costs and risks onto their suppliers, the protestors claimed.

Although government ministers have said that, in the highly competitive grocery sector, they believe the threat of negative publicity alone will prove enough of a deterrent to prevent supermarkets from abusing producers, they have intimated that the watchdog could be given greater powers if this fails.

Nevertheless, Traidcraft Policy Director Paul Spray said the watchdog should be given these powers from the outset, to 'send a message' to retailers. He elaborated, "If a supermarket ignores the Groceries Code it has signed up to, it needs more than a slap on the wrist. Giving the watchdog the power to fine sends a strong signal that it means business and developing country suppliers can have confidence that supermarkets will be held to account for their abusive practices."

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