Supermarkets face large fines for abusing farmers
I was talking to some year 9 (14) children in Cornwall last week about the landscape. None of them wanted to be farmers and one reason was their veiw that the supermarkets are unkind and unhelpful to farmers. From the mouths of babes… this article tells us:
Ministers are to give a new Groceries Code Adjudicator the power to fine supermarkets if they abuse their suppliers by forcing down wholesale prices to below-cost levels. It comes after supermarkets have been accused of behaving unreasonably when setting prices – and changing the terms of agreements once they have been struck.
An independent adjudicator will now rule on complaints and penalise supermarkets found to have broken the new guidelines. They will also be named and shamed. The level of fines has yet to be set and will be determined by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, in the coming weeks. However, they are likely to be based on other authorities, such as the Office of Fair Trading, who can levy multi-million pound fines for the worst abuses.