(Neath) (Ind):...Some
suggest that the GCA is hugely under-resourced. It is widely
recognised that the cost of a single investigation is greater
than its entire annual budget. The result is a perception that
the GCA is toothless. The GCA’s opinion is that it is effective
within the current parameters of the law, and it is not for it to
say whether those parameters should be expanded. However, it is
acknowledged that additional funding and powers would be needed
to expand the remit of the GCA. The most common criticism of the
code and the GCA is that they do not cover the whole supply
chain, which means that they apply only to direct suppliers of
the 14 biggest retailers, including Tesco,
Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Aldi. That leaves
indirect suppliers unprotected, including many small farmers and
primary producers. The Competition Commission predicted that
problem back in 2008 and suggested two responses: to extend the
code and the GCA to cover indirect suppliers or to introduce
complementary codes to cover intermediaries and primary
producers. Both options, though, ignore the issue of how such
codes and regulators are funded so, finally, we must explore the
issue of a regulator being both adjudicator and arbitrator...
(Tiverton and Honiton)
(LD):...Some of the supermarkets operate a
little like a cartel. I am not alleging that there is a cartel,
but they are operating a little like a cartel. To give an
example—again from December—Aldi stated just before Christmas
that it would sell six vegetables for 15p: for example, people
could buy a bag of carrots for 15p. That is way below the cost of
production. That would be one thing, but then it was copied by
the other supermarkets: Asda Tesco, Lidl and
Morrisons stated that they would sell their
vegetables at these rock-bottom prices in the pre-Christmas
period. That is less about veg as a loss leader than about a
complete lack of leadership. I am afraid that that is a loss to
this country. If our vegetable producers find that they cannot
make ends meet, we will end up importing more and more food. That
comes back to a lack of reliability on the part of the Groceries
Code Adjudicator. We find that some producers are being paid not
only insufficiently for the goods that they produce, but late or
in a way that means their original contracts are not being
honoured...
(East Devon) (Con):...British
people clearly value our farmers; an NFU survey reveals that 86%
of the public wants to buy more British food, and why not? I
firmly believe that farmers’ high quality British produce
deserves VIP status and must be easily identifiable to shoppers.
The Government have drawn up plans to ensure that British produce
will stand out from the crowd. Last year, I signed a public
letter written by my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Dr
Evans) calling for supermarkets to introduce a “Buy British”
button on their websites. I understand that, so far, only
Morrisons has stepped up to the plate, which is
disappointing to say the least. This debate demonstrates that
supermarkets need to give our farmers a fair deal. East Devon
produces some of the best food and drink in the country, and I
will continue to work with producers and the Minister to support
our fantastic farmers and producers...
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