With three weeks to go till the deadline for suppliers to take part in the GCA Amazon inquiry, Adjudicator Mark White has called for companies to come forward if they haven’t already submitted evidence.
The Groceries Code Adjudicator announced last month that he was launching an investigation into Amazon over alleged delays in payments to suppliers. The GCA said he had “reasonable grounds” to suspect the online giant had breached paragraph five of the Groceries Code, which says there should be no delay in payments, between 1 March 2022 and 20 June 2025.
“The call for evidence closes on 8 August and I encourage all direct suppliers and other stakeholders to respond and provide information about your experiences with Amazon,” White told The Grocer.
“All responses will be completely confidential.”
Jonathan Kittow, MD of Simply Supply Chain, is set to hold an online call on 25 July to advise suppliers on how best to provide evidence for the investigation.
Kittow said: “I have joined online calls with over 50 suppliers in the last week who all struggle with getting paid in full and on time with Amazon, for goods they can prove they delivered.
“As a result of the GCA’s call for evidence, ahead of the investigation, we wish to help those companies who are willing to provide evidence but who may be wondering how to frame that evidence.
“Having campaigned for three years and collated supplier data for over 20 companies, we are opening our monthly supplier Teams call to all grocery suppliers who want to provide that evidence.
“We will not be asking companies to share any confidential information.”
He said the intention was to help suppliers “understand how to collate the information in a common format that will help the GCA conduct its investigation”.
Suppliers can register for the event via hello@simply-sc.com.
Amazon has said it is treating the investigation “incredibly seriously” and it will fully co-operate with the Adjudicator.
It is White’s first investigation since taking the position in 2020.
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