No supermarket adjudicator in 2011
Brecon & Radnor farmers were disappointed to learn from NFU President, Peter Kendall, that the proposal for a supermarket adjudicator, which could help ordinary farmers take on the might of large retailers, has been ’kicked’ into 2012.
Mr Kendall, speaking at the Brecon and Radnor NFU Cymru County Conference recently said, "The NFU has, for many years, been calling for an ombudsman to be appointed to make sure those individual farmers that have contracts to supply large retailers are treated fairly. The appointment of such a position has been on a bit of roller coaster ride but the current coalition government is in agreement that one is necessary.
"Unsurprisingly, however, there has been a huge amount of government lobbying done recently by the large retailers on this issue of an adjudicator for the industry as they, naturally, would prefer to deal with individuals rather than third party organisations such as the NFU."
Mr Kendall went on to explain why the adjudicator, as it is currently proposed will not be efficient. He said, "Firstly, the proposal doesn’t even look like it’s going to get off the ground until 2012. Secondly, name and shame is the proposed way of tackling those retailers who go back on contracts or don’t give a fair deal to suppliers." Mr Kendall explained that he would rather see the proposals put into action as soon as possible and for large retailers to be fined rather than named and shamed in future. "I believe it should be a case of hitting them where it will hurt – their profit margins."
Gwyn Price, NFU Cymru County Chairman for Brecon and Radnor thanked the NFU President for the update on the proposals for a Supermarket Ombudsman, now known as an adjudicator. Mr Price went on to explain how disappointed he was as a farmer, however, to hear that the bill is unlikely to get off the ground in 2011 and how powerful large retailers were trying to influence government decisions.
Mr Price said, "This was a very interesting conference with a lot of food for thought, and a very good turn out. I would like to thank HSBC Bank Plc for sponsoring the event."
