The Commerce Commission has published the Grocery Supply Code: Checklist for Suppliers which is available to download hereand is available on the Commerce Commission website at https://comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/grocery/.
This is important guidance from the regulator, the document acts as a “checklist” for grocery suppliers to guide review of the new or amended agreements received from retailers to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Grocery Supply Code. You can read the email update from the Grocery team below.
We hope that, by providing this guidance, suppliers are more informed about their rights under the Code when negotiating and agreeing to their agreements with retailers, as well in their ongoing interactions with retailers.
The Code came into force on 28 September 2023. For existing grocery supply agreements, regulated grocery retailers (Foodstuffs North Island, Foodstuffs South Island, and Woolworths NZ) have until 28 March 2024 to offer suppliers variations to ensure these agreements are consistent with the Code. There is no requirement for suppliers to have signed by this date. After 28 March 2024, the provisions of the Code apply irrespective of what is in the agreement.
If you wish to receive future communications from the grocery team or want to get in touch, contact grocery.regulation@comcom.govt.nz.
