Wait goes on for Groceries Code supremo

The National Farmers Union said ministers should look to resolve the issue as a matter of urgency.

Farmers had hoped for a decision early this year but have now been told that the matter will not come before parliament until May at the earliest.

The Groceries Supply Code of Practice came into force two years ago this month, in February 2010, but still no monitoring or enforcement body has been put in place.

The code is the result of recommendations from the Competition Commission following a two-year investigation into Britain’s supermarket trade. It said such a figure was needed to ensure fairer prices for consumers and farmers.

NFU Head of Government Affairs Nick Von Westenholz said: “While we await the introduction of a GSCOP Adjudicator, we continue to hear of suppliers being squeezed ever tighter by the major supermarkets, damaging the long term prospects of primary producers, as well as the interests of consumers.

“The coalition Government has committed to introducing an adjudicator and last year published a draft Bill setting out its proposals.

“However, without an actual Bill, these arguments are entirely academic. There is no reason the formal Bill can’t be introduced during the final months of the current Parliamentary session.

“This would mean an adjudicator could be up and running by the end of the year and at last we may have a referee to go along with the rulebook come the third anniversary of the GSCOP in 2013.”

The idea of an adjudicator has much cross-party support despite extensive lobbying by Britain’s supermarkets against such a figure, which they claim will cause higher prices.

A spokesman for the Department of Business said the delay was caused by lack of Parliamentary time.