Lincolnshire brassica grower and NFU horticulture and potatoes board chairman Sarah Dawson urges growers to raise complaints with Christine Tacon, the Groceries Code Adjudicator.
Delegate attendance and reviews of the event were 'excellent' and 'outstanding' with a good balance of topics and relevance - congratulations to the organisers for yet another hugely successful conference.
This year I addressed the conference alongside the Groceries Code Adjudicator Christine Tacon. We shared a great deal of common ground regarding supply chain issues. During the NFU’s investigation into the fresh produce supply chain, work which led to the publication of the pioneering Catalyst for Change report, there were many direct accounts by growers and suppliers of breaches to the Grocery Supermarket Code of Practice (GSCOP). Although both Christine and I highlighted previously evidenced areas within the GSCOP where breaches had and were taking place, it was disappointing to hear from Christine that in her short time as adjudicator she has already uncovered a number of unsavoury activities still going on in the supply chain. But most disappointing to hear was that there are very few people coming forward to raise concerns.
The rules of the code and the adjudicator are very clear in that anonymity is absolutely maintained and forms an essential part in the integrity of this new law. Christine made clear in her speech that she knew that breaches of the code are taking place, so please… can those growers and suppliers who continue to be subjected to unlawful activities contact Christine to ensure the adjudicator has enough evidence to investigate. Without it Christine is merely a friendly policewoman walking the streets of our industry.
I have every confidence in Christine and her team but I must stress that they are only as good as the information they receive. So, I would urge producers who believe they know of breaches of the code to contact Christine – please do it now, email ZW5xdWlyaWVzQGdjYS5nc2kuZ292LnVr and start the conversation.
Defra is currently consulting on its plans for implementing the future CAP reform proposals in the UK. I must say, the consultation contains a mixed bag of decisions and questions. On the back of a horrific growing and farming year in 2012, confirmation that overall farm business income is down 32 per cent underlines the increasing importance of the CAP to many grower businesses. There’s no doubt there are unnecessary complications and financial pain ahead within the decisions and current proposals but it’s in everyone’s interest to try to find workable solutions to the issues.
To give you a flavour of these recent plans and proposals, it is disappointing that Defra looks like it will close the door on giving flexibility to growers troubled by the requirement to grow three different crops, which as we know could have serious implications for horticultural and potato businesses. After years of market focused business evolution, growers could find their businesses having to adapt to policy change rather than market orientation – ridiculous I hear you say – absolutely. However, for the majority of growers, the proposal that Defra will follow the broad EU approach, as opposed to introducing a more demanding form of greening through a national certification scheme, is actually very good news.
I am also pleased that Defra has listened to the NFU on how to deal with payment entitlements. Rather than maintaining uncertainty among growers, the Secretary of State has announced that he will roll on the existing payment entitlements, which is directly in line with what the NFU has been calling for. For the latest news on the NFU’s work around CAP visit /business/cap/
Finally, good news on the Vydate front - we have just had confirmation from CRD that the registration for this important potato nematicide will be maintained with no changes to the current label. This is a great common-sense result and I should like to thank you all for your support and input over the last few months - a real industry effort!