Adjudicator details still on ice as draft bill nears

DEFRA secretary Caroline Spelman and business secretary Vince Cable have still not met to discuss the details of the groceries adjudicator, despite a draft bill being imminent.

Shadow food and farming minister William Bain labelled DEFRA’s approach to the matter “peculiar” and fears the project may be “watered down”.

Bain demanded answers on the subject this week and, in a letter from farming minister Jim Paice, the government confirmed the practicalities of the proposed groceries adjudicator, which would oversee compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.

A draft bill on the subject has been promised around Easter, with no indication of when a full bill will be drawn up and fears of “foot-dragging” rife.

Bain, Labour MP for Glasgow North East, told FPJ: “I do find it peculiar they have not met. I would have thought that the DEFRA secretary would want to get a real grip on this issue and would be pressing for a strong grocery adjudicator.

“The adjudicator must have the power and the teeth to tackle inequalities and abuse within the market. We are concerned it will be watered down. While there is foot-dragging going on there are people in the supply chain who are suffering.”

Paice said in the letter that Spelman has had “regular discussions” with the department for business and added “the secretary of state has not discussed the specific powers and functions of the groceries code adjudicator, which were the subject of a [BIS] consultation exercise last year.”

Bain also called for an update to January 2010’s Labour-backed Food 2030 strategy in light of the Foresight report.

Speaking at the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum, he said: “It was a good strategy for its time but where we do need to up our game is with water usage. In other countries they are using existing techniques better and we have to follow suit. There has to be an immediate, short-term strategy as food inflation is higher here than anywhere else in the EU.”

Sarah Church, deputy director of the food policy unit at DEFRA, said the department was working on key areas including skills, health issues, waste, the environment and economic competitiveness and would not revise Food 2030 “just for the sake of it”.