The government’s decision to move the Groceries Code Adjudicator to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and MPs’ recent questions whether the watchdog has enough “teeth”, reignites the debate whether the watchdog can, or should, deliver supply chain “fairness”.
The GCA & Defra
Moving the Groceries Code Adjudicator under Defra will not make the supply chain “more fair” and risks misunderstanding the watchdog’s true role, writes GSCOP expert and Retail Mind director Ged Futter.
Be careful what you wish for. On 1st July, the GCA’s office will move from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra). This means it will fall under the same boss as the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator, so is this a good thing?
When MPs rabble-rouse with comments such as saying the GCA is ‘an apologist or PR machine’ for the supermarkets or that he is ‘riding with the horses and riding with the hounds’, do they actually understand what the GCA’s role is?
The Grocery Code Adjudicator was established in June 2013, three years after GSCOP became law. We are the only country in the world to have someone overseeing the Code of Practice. The role of the GCA is not to advise Suppliers if they believe a Retailer is behaving poorly, it is to act as an Adjudicator if the Supplier is unable to reach an agreement & it ends up at an arbitration!
If the GCA advises a Supplier on a Retailer, how is he then able to act independently in any arbitration? GSCOP is very clear on how Retailers need to behave with their Suppliers, that is why the market does not operate like the Wild West it used to be!
Since GSCOP became law in 2010 the grocery landscape has changed substantially, as has retailers’ behaviour. This is because we have GSCOP AND the GCA. The GCA can keep retailers on the straight & narrow. This is done by working closely with Retailer’s Code Compliance Officers & nipping issues in the bud before they get out of hand.
It is often cited that the lack of a fine by the GCA is evidence that the role is toothless. Invariably this is stated by those with limited understanding of how to use GSCOP proactively with a retailer, not as a stick, but to keep relationships balanced.
I have a fear that there are those who think that moving the GCA’s office under Defra will bring more fairness to the supply chain. The problem is, what does fair mean, who defines what is fair? That is not actually the role of the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator who has stated that they are not there to intervene on price.
The GCA’s office is independent. It is funded by the retailers. It is not a role that is there to decide what price a supplier or grower should be paid. It is also not there to decide if a retailer has treated a supplier fairly, unless a part of GSCOP has been breached.
I fear that there is an expectation that the GCA will work closer with the ASCA to create a fair supply chain. The ASCA has already worked in the Pig Sector. Fairness is not defined & never will be. Anyone who believes fairness is the future may also be seeing pigs flying in the sky!
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