Tesco has been accused of dragging its feet over the Office of Fair Trading probe into retailer-supplier relationships, industry insiders are reported as saying.
Rival companies and industry groups blame Tesco for delaying the probe in the early stages of the investigation.
According to reports in the Financial Times, Tesco said it admitted there had been delays at the start, but denied there was any intention to be difficult.
It said the complexities of its system was to blame, with records being kept at several different sites.
Supplier groups said the delay is holding up steps the government might take to increase protection for producers against the big four supermarket chains.
The probe was launched by the OFT after an initial investigation discovered the “widespread belief” that the voluntary supermarket code of conduct was being violated.
Suppliers have almost all failed to make complaints through the code, but supporters said this was due to a fear of supermarket retaliation.
