Two years after the grocery Supply Chain Code of Practice came into effect, there have been few signs that the government is endeavouring to implement an ombudsperson to monitor the groceries market and protect farmers and consumers. Critics say that, despite much rhetoric from the coalition, the urgently needed adjudicator may not be in place before 2015.

The NFU today called on the Government to bring forward the Bill to establish a Groceries Code Adjudicator. The union said farmers are in desperate need of an adjudicator to ensure they are not being exploited by retailers, as rising input costs and squeezed margins from supermarkets and processors maintain a vice-like hold on farmers’ margins.

image expired

A recent report from the European Parliament by farmer, green MEP and political activist José Bové outlined the invidious position in which farmers find themselves. M Bové’s report recommends farmers organise into cooperatives to better assert themselves and protect their interests. It also calls for help from the European Union to ensure farmers are able to stay afloat despite the rising tide of input costs.  

Although the Groceries Supply Code of Practice came into force in February 2010, the latest round of supermarket price wars, in which large retailers have slashed the prices of a variety of staples including fresh produce and dairy products to preserve their falling market shares, has reportedly had a severe knock-on effect for their farmer suppliers. In some cases farmers are being forced to carry the costs of these reckless marketing strategies.

NFU Head of Government Affairs Nick Von Westenholz today commented, “While we await the introduction of a GSCOP Adjudicator, we continue to hear of suppliers being squeezed ever tighter by the major supermarkets, damaging the long terms prospects of primary producers, as well as the interests of consumers.”

The Coalition Government has committed itself to introducing an Adjudicator and published its proposals in a draft bill last year. However, the government has seriously diluted the range of powers which will be available to the proposed ombudsperson, including the ability to gain information from third party sources and whistleblowers. It also said that, initially, the adjudicator would not be able to punish companies found guilty of infringing the code with financial penalties.

In response to this, the government has been accused of pandering to big business. Farming unions claim that ‘naming and shaming’ supermarkets alone will not encourage them to change their behaviour. They have also spoken of a ‘climate of fear’ which exists and which may prevent individual farmers or would-be whistleblowers from coming forward to report exploitative practices unless they can do so through a third party.

Von Westenholz added, “However, without an actual Bill, these arguments are entirely academic. It is no secret that the House of Commons is currently under-employed with regard to the amount of legislation passing through the Chamber. The NFU believes that, given the cross-party support for the Adjudicator, and the fact that two select committees of MPs have already examined the draft Bill, there is no reason the formal Bill can’t be introduced during the final months of the current Parliamentary session. This would mean an Adjudicator could be up and running by the end of the year and at last we may have a referee to go along with the rulebook come the third anniversary of the GSCOP in 2013.”

Tweet