1 December 2009
African farmers have added their backing to the campaign for an ombudsman to regulate the new UK groceries supply code.
In a letter from the Zambia Export Growers Association to DBIS Secretary of State Peter Mandelson, Chief Executive Luke Mbewe says his members have experienced 'the unilateral imposition of unfair practices by their trading partners in the UK'.
He refutes a suggestion from the Department for International Development that producers in developing countries would be unlikely to contact the ombudsman.
This is the second show of support for the role from a far-flung source in recent weeks, following a similar letter from the Windward Island Farmers Association. Its co-ordinator, Renwick Rose, said UK supermarket rivalry had devalued bananas, with implications for 'the concept of Fairtrade'.
The ombudsman was a key recommendation of the Competition Commission following its lengthy investigation into supermarket practices. A decision on the post is expected before Christmas and the NFU is urging members to write to their MPs (details here).
NFU comment
'For too long this argument has been characterised as one between the large multiple retailers and UK farmers. The reality is that the abuse of market power affects all suppliers - large and small, developed and developing world.
'This letter demonstrates the widespread nature of unfair dealing which damages farmers' ability to innovate and invest, but the real losers will be consumers who, in the future, won't have access to the range and quality of products that they have been used to.'
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