The big four supermarkets will be grilled by competition minister Gerry Sutcliffe and a cross-party panel of MPs on Thursday amid mounting concerns over their market dominance.
Billed as “an informal opportunity for the minister to discuss supply chain relationships”, the event would serve as a fact-finding exercise rather than a dressing down over alleged bully-boy tactics, said a DTI spokesman.
However, LibDem rural affairs spokesman Andrew George said the meeting was part of the minister’s “ongoing attempt to get to the bottom of the issue of abuse of the code of practice”.
He added: “I had a meeting with Sutcliffe a few months ago to talk through issues raised in the review of the code and they were substantial. The problem is that suppliers won’t risk raising their heads above the parapet.
“Sutcliffe will throw out tough questions and will be asking for explanations over breaches of the code.”
If auditors PKF failed to find concrete evidence of abuse of the code as they went through the multiples’ paperwork in the next few weeks, the government needed to consider the other options available, said George.
“Under the Fair Trading Act, the minister could appoint a food trade inspector to undertake proactive inquiries, which could be intelligence-led, as it were. He wouldn’t wait for complaints.
“The results would be published and the supermarkets would be publicly embarrassed. The only sanction that really works is public relations.”
Other options included removing the word “reasonable” from the code of practice or tightly defining it, he said. “We need to define exactly what is reasonable time for payment, what is reasonable notice for changing terms on a contract and when it is reasonable to require a supplier to pay a retailer’s costs.”
Asda, which will be represented at the meeting by sourcing development director Mike Snell and head of government affairs Bernard Hughes, welcomed it as “an opportunity to share best practice about supply chain management and relations with suppliers”.
The meeting coincides with attempts by the NFU to garner support for a voluntary buyers’ charter covering all buyers in the food chain. NFU head of food and farming Robin Tapper said there had been a lot of enthusiasm from the trade. He said: “A voluntary approach means we can get things moving more quickly.”
Elaine Watson
Billed as “an informal opportunity for the minister to discuss supply chain relationships”, the event would serve as a fact-finding exercise rather than a dressing down over alleged bully-boy tactics, said a DTI spokesman.
However, LibDem rural affairs spokesman Andrew George said the meeting was part of the minister’s “ongoing attempt to get to the bottom of the issue of abuse of the code of practice”.
He added: “I had a meeting with Sutcliffe a few months ago to talk through issues raised in the review of the code and they were substantial. The problem is that suppliers won’t risk raising their heads above the parapet.
“Sutcliffe will throw out tough questions and will be asking for explanations over breaches of the code.”
If auditors PKF failed to find concrete evidence of abuse of the code as they went through the multiples’ paperwork in the next few weeks, the government needed to consider the other options available, said George.
“Under the Fair Trading Act, the minister could appoint a food trade inspector to undertake proactive inquiries, which could be intelligence-led, as it were. He wouldn’t wait for complaints.
“The results would be published and the supermarkets would be publicly embarrassed. The only sanction that really works is public relations.”
Other options included removing the word “reasonable” from the code of practice or tightly defining it, he said. “We need to define exactly what is reasonable time for payment, what is reasonable notice for changing terms on a contract and when it is reasonable to require a supplier to pay a retailer’s costs.”
Asda, which will be represented at the meeting by sourcing development director Mike Snell and head of government affairs Bernard Hughes, welcomed it as “an opportunity to share best practice about supply chain management and relations with suppliers”.
The meeting coincides with attempts by the NFU to garner support for a voluntary buyers’ charter covering all buyers in the food chain. NFU head of food and farming Robin Tapper said there had been a lot of enthusiasm from the trade. He said: “A voluntary approach means we can get things moving more quickly.”
Elaine Watson
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