The resilience and vulnerabilities of the UK's food supply chain
will be the focus of a new inquiry by the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA).
The Fairness in the food supply chain inquiry,
launched today (Friday 20 December), will see MPs examine a range
of key issues affecting the sector, including the levels of
support for domestic food production, access to affordable and
healthy food, labour shortages in the supply chain, and food
prices and household food insecurity.
The Committee will delve into many of the issues documented in
the Government's food security
report, published last week, which highlighted the range of
pressures posing a threat to the UK's food security, and reported
an increase in the number of households unable to access healthy
food.
During the span of their inquiry, MPs will issue calls for
evidence on a regular basis, and will track the Government's work
on food security, scrutinising the Government's national food
strategy, due in 2025.
This inquiry will build on the work of the predecessor Committee,
which explored the power imbalances between farmers, processors,
manufacturers and retailers, and heard evidence on concerns from
producers as to whether farmgate prices reflect increases in
production costs.
The Chair of the EFRA Committee, MP,
said:
“It is easy to take for granted that we enjoy a ready and
plentiful supply of food in the UK. The production of high
quality food is a domestic strength that we can all be thankful
for.
“Even so, our food supplies - both homegrown and imported -
are vulnerable to external factors and are not always as secure
as we might imagine, as the events of recent years have
proven.
“Our Committee is also concerned about the increasing number
of households up and down the country who are struggling to
access high quality, nutritious food at prices they can
afford.
“Supermarkets have warned that the tax rises announced in the
Budget will put pressure on prices. We also continue to see
warnings about the impact of labour shortages in the supply
chain.
“In this inquiry, our Committee will investigate the breadth
of issues facing the sector, including the interacting factors
that affect the UK's food supply chains. We will look at how the
Government can ensure greater fairness and transparency in supply
chains and promote food security both at a national and a
household level.”
Call for evidence
To inform its inquiry, the Committee will refer to evidence
gathered by the predecessor EFRA Committee on the below topics,
but would welcome new or updated submissions on the
below, by Friday 24 January 2025:
- the effectiveness of the Groceries Code Adjudicator to
enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice
- the potential merits and demerits of expanding the scope of
the Groceries Supply Code of Practice
- other potential reforms to the Groceries Supply Code of
Practice, including the potential benefits and risks of lowering
the turnover threshold for which retailers are covered
- adequacy of reviews into contractual practices in
agricultural sectors and effectiveness of introduction of fair
dealing powers under the Agriculture Act
- the benefits and risks of a sector specific approach to the
introduction of fair dealing powers
- scope for collaboration between the Agricultural Supply Chain
Adjudicator and Groceries Code Adjudicator
ENDS
Further information
- The inquiry page, where people can
make submissions to the above call for evidence, will
be live here on
Friday 20 December.
