As if to prove there is some activity still going on in government, BEIS this week announced a new review into the role of Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon.
It’s bound to reopen the issue of whether the Adjudicator really has the teeth to protect suppliers. And it comes with Tacon recently facing flak from MPs over her alleged inflexibility and reluctance to protect small suppliers.
So the results of her annual suppliers’ survey next week carry added weight.
If the feedback suggests retailer behaviour has gone backwards, it’s going to add fuel to the fire, despite further progress this week in the shape of commitments by Ocado and Waitrose to curb forensic auditing.
There must also be questions about how long Tacon remains, with her extension running out in 2020, especially as she must rightly feel put out at criticism over ducking issues clearly beyond her existing remit.
This time next year the GCA could look very different. Whether that’s for the best is another matter. And who would want a job with such an impossible brief anyway
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