Mr Heath made it clear to the CEOs of the major UK dairy processors that farmers were getting concerned and needed to be assured that their contracts would be amended by April, otherwise they would start to press for compulsory contracts.
Importantly, he reiterated previous public statements saying Defra are still prepared to legislate if the code fails and that Defra want both sides to begin reviewing the code before the end of the year.
Farming Minister David Heath said:
“The voluntary code of practice is a great step forward for all sides of the industry and we now need to make it work.
“Although I know some good work is being done, a lot of farmers are still waiting for their contracts to be changed to reflect the code and are quite understandably concerned.
“For the industry to thrive in the global race all sides of the industry need to work together and turn fine words into real action.”