We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.OFC '10: Tories 'will introduce supermarket Ombudsman'
THE Conservatives will introduce a supermarket Ombudsman if they win the forthcoming General Election, Shadow Defra Secretary Nick Herbert has pledged.
Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference today (Tuesday, January 5), Mr Herbert will pledge that a future Conservative Government will create an Ombudsman to curb abuses of power by the major food retailers.
However, the Ombudsman under the Conservatives would be a dedicated unit in the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), rather than an independent body.
Mr Herbert will defend the decision not to set up a new stand-alone body by stressing the Tories’ want an Ombudsman that is ‘credible and effective’ but ‘do not wish to create another quango’.
The Ombudsman would be funded by a levy paid by retailers, while the Conservatives would impose a cap on the size of businesses protected by the Ombudsman to ensure its focus is on smaller producers.
The Conservatives say the OFT is ideally suited to take on the role, and because the Ombudsman would be industry-funded, it would not place an extra burden on the OFT’s budget or the taxpayer in general.
“Supermarkets deliver real benefits but some aspects of the way they treat their suppliers can harm consumers as well as producers,” Mr Herbert will say.
“We have a new code of practice which outlaws unacceptable practices such as retrospective discounting, but this isn’t worth the paper it is written on without effective enforcement.
“While the Government dithers the Conservatives are clear: we will introduce an Ombudsman to curb abuses of power which undermine our farmers and act against the long-term interest of consumers.
“As the Competition Commission has made clear, failure to do so could result in reduced investment by suppliers, lower product quality, and less product choice, with potentially higher prices in the long run. It is time to act.”
The Competition Commission (CC) formally recommended last year that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) should establish an Ombudsman to arbitrate on disputes between grocery retailers and suppliers and investigate complaints under the new Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). BIS had been expected to announce its response to Parliament before Christmas but failed to do so.
