The government has been called to break its silence on plans to extend the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to cover the whole of the retail supply chain.
It has been a year since the end of the consultation on the need to extend the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA).
However, the farming industry has criticised the lack of process, with the Tenant Farmers' Association (TFA) saying the most information that has been obtained from the Government is that it is "still considering what it should do."
TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said: “We need to hear from the Government that it has decided to take the necessary, decisive action to bring forward the required legislation to extend the remit to allow regulation to take place throughout the retail supply chain.”
The current remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator allows it to regulate the direct supply contracts of the top 10 retailers in the grocery sector in the UK.
But it does not allow the Adjudicator to look at contractual relationships deeper into the supply chain, including those between farmers and processors where unfair trading practices can persist.
Flouting rules
“We simply cannot look at one segment of the supply chain in isolation. In the past few months we have seen evidence of some processors willing to flout rules and regulations on food safety only to be exposed by secret filming,” Mr Dunn explained.
“This is particularly galling for the farming community which is working hard to achieve high standards of production to the point of the farm gate and it erodes consumer confidence in the whole of the supply chain.”
The TFA has insisted that the Adjudicator must be able to judge whether or not fair trading practices are operating throughout the retail supply chain. The group said there is "no excuse" for further delay in allowing that to take place.
“There is no point in driving higher standards in food production at the farm gate if those standards are simply to be undermined when product leaves the farm gate or if unfair contractual terms force UK farmers into liquidation, making us more reliant upon imported product over which we will have little control of the standards to which it is produced,” Mr Dunn added.
'Fair and transparent'
Aled Jones, Chairman of the NFU Cymru Milk Board said farmers wish to see 'fair and transparent' supply chains across the board.
He said: “Voluntary codes have been introduced in an attempt to resolve a number of long running issues. Although there have been some positives for primary producers there are still too many buyers that operate outside of the principles of the codes.
“In my own sector too many companies continue to give very short notice of price changes to their producers, unreasonable notice of specification changes and changes to required volumes without sufficient warning to name but a few.”
According to a YouGov survey carried out on behalf of the GCA, 62% of direct suppliers said they had experienced an issue in the past year – compared to 70% in 2015 and 79% in 2014.
