FGC’s petition seeking Parliament’s support for the establishment of a mandatory Grocery Code of Conduct for supermarkets, to introduce more transparent supplier/retailer business relationships, has been presented by Katherine Rich to Ohariu MP Greg O’Connor at Parliament.
Mr O’Connor said he was happy to receive it, saying it deserved the scrutiny of the House of Representatives, and anything that benefited consumers had to be a good thing.
He also made a good point that a Code would also be good for supermarket owners, with those with good practice not being disadvantaged by the bad ones because everyone would be working to the same rules.
The petition, which attracted 500 signatures, seeks a Code similar to those in Australia and the United Kingdom to address potential abuses of market power towards food and grocery manufacturers arising from NZ’s highly concentrated grocery retail market.
“This market dominance has led to concerns about market power and potential abuses of the food and grocery suppliers to supermarkets,” it says.
Katherine Rich said she was grateful and delighted Mr O’Connor had received the petition, which has now been tabled in Parliament and will be allocated to a Select Committee for consideration.