The UK government has announced that it is appointing a supermarket ombudsman to enforce its new Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP), which is designed to protect suppliers from exploitation by large grocery retailers.
In a statement, UK consumer minister Kevin Brennan said that the government had accepted the recommendations of its own Competition Commission to appoint an ombudsman to oversee the new code, which comes into force on 4 February 2010.
The minister said the implementation of the code would be “quickly followed by a consultation, beginning in February, on how best to enforce the GSCOP, including who that body might be and the powers it could have”.
Mr Brennan said: “The revised Grocery Supply Code of Practice is a great improvement on the current regime.
“However, the power that large grocery retailers remain able to wield over their suppliers can still create pressures on small producers, especially in these difficult economic times, which ultimately may impact on consumers.
“Free and fair competition is the key to a healthy market and it is right that there should be an enforcement body to make sure that consumers are getting the value for money.”
Despite this, Mr Brennan said that the government did not anticipate that the code or the ombudsman would have a significant impact on consumer prices or workers.
UK environment Secretary Hilary Benn added: “The new ombudsman will help strike the right balance between farmers and food producers getting a fair deal, and supermarkets enabling consumers to get high quality British food at an affordable price.”
However, the British Retail Consortium, which represent large grocery retailers, claimed the ombudsman would “hand negotiating power to multi-national food businesses and cost customers millions of pounds in higher prices”.
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