The government has appealed for views on whether the Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon remains effective in protecting suppliers.
The department of business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) launched the three-month review, just days before Tacon is due to reveal the results of her latest supplier survey, outlining views of the behaviour of retailers covered by GSCOP.
BEIS said the review, the second time it has assessed the effectiveness of the GCA, would look at how Tacon’s powers had been exercised, how effective the GCA has been in enforcing the Code and whether to amend or replace Tacon’s fining powers.
Ministers will also look at the powers of the Adjudicator to demand information from suppliers when deciding whether to launch an investigation into supermarket behaviour.
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The review is set to reawaken controversy over the Adjudicator’s role amid claims from MPs that the office lacks teeth and does not have enough scope to tackle issues such as protecting smaller suppliers, ensuring prompt payments and tackling the “climate of fear” which some claim still exists between suppliers and retailers.
In July 2017 Tacon was reappointed until 2020, after a long-delayed government review which concluded there had been widespread improvement in the behaviour of supermarkets since she came into the post.
But despite praising Tacon’s flexible approach to the role, describing her as “an exemplary modern regulator”, some MPs are calling for new measures to make it mandatory for suppliers to give evidence, a move Tacon has resisted.
“The Groceries Code Adjudicator plays an important role ensuring the UK’s biggest supermarkets treat their direct suppliers lawfully and fairly,” said small business minister Kelly Tolhurst.
“The security of our suppliers is crucial to the health of our economy and I am committed to ensuring there is a strong framework in place to protect them.
“I look forward to seeing the results of this review and very much welcome views on how effective it has been in the last three years.”
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