Groceries adjudicator 'will push up prices' for shoppers say BRC

The Government’s decision to proceed with legislation to create a grocery code adjudicator will increase costs for consumers but achieve nothing new, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC) as the draft bill was published today.

Reacting to the publication of the draft legislation, British Retail Consortium Food Director Andrew Opie said: "The supermarket adjudicator will just add costs to retailers and push up shop prices for customers.

"Food prices are already under considerable pressure from rising global commodity costs and climbing fuel and utility prices. Retailers are doing their best to cushion customers from the full impact of these increases. The extra costs of dealing with a new administrative body will make it even harder to keep price rises away from shop shelves.

"The Bill says the adjudicator will cost only £800,000 a year to run, to be paid for by the ten biggest food retailers. If the Government really believes a public body can be run that cheaply it should cap the charges imposed on them at that level and commit to funding any extra costs itself.

"It’s in supermarkets’ own interests to have good long-term relationships with their suppliers as part of securing their supply chains. The Groceries Supply Code of Practice has been in existence for more than a year. So far as we can discover, it has not resulted in even one dispute between stores and suppliers going to independent arbitration. This begs the question – what will a grocery code adjudicator do all day?

"The UK has the most regulated grocery sector in the world. If the Government is set on this ill-judged course it must at the very least keep the regulatory burden and related costs to an absolute minimum, for the good of shoppers across the country."