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You are here campaigns Fighting supermarket power extra Inform Ed Davey’s response to War on Want’s campaign for a supermarket watchdog

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Ed Davey’s response to War on Want’s campaign for a supermarket watchdog

Hundreds of War on Want supporters have written to Ed Davey, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs, asking him to support an independent, well-funded and proactive supermarket watchdog that would protect farmers and suppliers from supermarket abuse and bullying.

Posted below is Mr Davey's response, which fails to address some of the key points raised in the letters from our supporters. You can contact Ed Davey again at daveye@parliament.uk, for clarification on which suppliers the watchdog will cover, the level of monetary penalties it will be able to impose and whether it will be proactive in gathering evidence of supermarket bullying. Please do let us know about any responses you receive.

Response from Ed Davey MP
On 3 August 2010, the Government published its response to the consultation on taking forward the establishment of a body to monitor and enforce compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). This followed the Government's commitment in the Coalition Agreement of 18 May 2010 to introduce, as a first step, an Ombudsman in the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to enforce the GSCOP.

In light of the views received during the consultation, the Government have decided that:

• The body will be called the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA);

• The GCA will be based within the OFT but will be kept independent from the normal decision route in the OFT;

• The GCA will be able to receive complaints and conduct investigations where it considers necessary;

• The GCA will have powers to receive complaints from anyone if future experience indicates that reputation of retailer behaviour is not considered as a sufficient deterrent.

• The GCA will be given powers to introduce financial penalties if future experience indicates that reputation of retailer behaviour is not considered as a sufficient deterrent.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/business-law/competition-matters/market-studies/cc-market-investigation-on-the-uk-supply-of-groceries

The establishment of the GCA will require primary legislation. The Government intends to publish a draft Bill for Parliamentary approval later this year.