Farmers and consumer groups in the UK have renewed calls for a new code to protect consumers and small suppliers.
The alliance, which includes environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth and the Women's Institute, has also urged government to set up a supermarket watchdog.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been undertaking a review of the existing supermarket code of practice.
The code was introduced in a blaze of publicity in 2002, after a Competition Commission report into supermarkets, but its detractors say it doesn’t do enough for supermarket suppliers. The Fresh Produce Consortium also pointed out last year that the pitfalls of making a complaint and the stigma attached to complainants makes any appeals procedure unworkable.
Friends of the Earth agrees - saying that the original code was "flawed" and suppliers are not using the provisions of the code, because they feared being "de-listed".
The OFT has set an end of February 2004 date for finalisation of its review, after which the results will be published.
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