MPs back farmers in battle over bullying

The Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) committee of the House of Commons reported yesterday on its inquiry into proposals to appoint an adjudicator to enforce a beefed-up code of practice for supermarkets.

The BIS Committee says the bill to empower the adjudicator – currently under discussion, in draft form – should include provision for trade associations and other third parties to put forward complaints for investigation, because individual suppliers may be too scared. The EFRA Committee, covering Defra affairs, has already said much the same.

The Government is sympathetic. It says its draft bill would allow for third parties to initiate complaints but it would expect the original complainants to come forward eventually and the MPs agree with the NFU that the bill should recognise that sometimes nobody will. The existing bill would not permit “whistleblowers” to start investigations, although it would probably allow them to be called as witnesses.

The British Retail Consortium, representing the supermarkets and other big buyers, argues that making the rules too loose will be an invitation to organisations with nothing much to lose to whip up complaints to see how far they get.

All the big retailers, except Waitrose, say the “ombudsman” will achieve very little other than adding to the costs they have to pass on to customers - and the anonymity option will only make things worse.

But the BIS Committee says: “The costs of the new body will not be great compared with the size of the groceries market.”