Supermarket bosses have agreed to bring in “game-changing” new safeguards for suppliers as part of Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon’s controversial move towards self-regulation.
Adjudicator Tacon, who is stepping down in June, revealed in the summer she planned to bring in a new risk management system across all 13 retailers policed under GSCOP, in her last year in the role.
This week Tacon told The Grocer all the retailers had responded to her proposals and a number had already agreed to bring in new systems. These include extra internal reporting dashboards, databases and best practice guidance for buyers, aimed at preventing unfair practices against suppliers.
The Adjudicator said she would now work further with the supermarkets ahead of setting up a more formal system in February. She added her “common factors” approach was based on her findings in the Co-op investigation, concluded in March last year, which found the retailer guilty of breaching the code.
The investigation said inadequate governance, lack of IT and systems and poor training, had led to suppliers being delisted because of system failures rather than a deliberate intention to treat suppliers badly.
Tacon said: “I gave retailers until mid-October to respond to my proposals and they have now all responded. A number of them have already agreed that they will be bringing in new practices as a result, which I’m really pleased about.
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“I really believe that embedding a self-regulatory system across all the retailers is the final stage in my work. As I said in the summer, I believe if all retailers bring in the recommendations from my Co-op investigation it can be a game-changer for the sector.”
Tacon’s proposed move to a system of self-regulation has prompted concern from some supplier groups, who fear it could lead to a repeat of the sort of behaviour supermarkets became notorious for before Tacon’s arrival in 2013.
“I don’t think these fears are justified,” Tacon told The Grocer. “The fact is that since I began the role we have seen improvements across the board in the key areas of concern and what I hope to do now is to ensure that supermarkets have systems in place so they can take out the risks of doing things wrong like the Co-op did.”
Tacon also said she believed concerns about the search for her replacement were unjustified.
Earlier this month, The Grocer revealed there were fears the role would be downgraded after the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said it wanted a candidate to work two or three days a week.
Tacon currently does three days a week in the role and the announcement provoked anger from some supplier groups, who fear the role could lose its teeth.
“But Tacon said: “In all honesty I don’t think I would have had enough to do if I’d been working five days a week. I can fully sympathise with people saying it’s still a three-day-a-week job.”
However, there is anger among some sources that BEIS has advertised Tacon’s role before completing a statutory review of the role, with demands from the likes of the NFU that it should be extended to cover primary producers.
One source said: “It seems very odd that BEIS should be looking for a replacement before it has even decided if the Adjudicator role in its current form is working.”
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