| IFA President John Bryan has renewed his call on the Government to prioritise their Fair Trade legislation, which must rebalance the food supply chain and deliver a return to producers that covers their costs and gives them a living. He said the strong support at last week’s IFA protest was a clear message that must be heeded. John Bryan made the call following the announcement by the Government in the UK that a Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill will be introduced. The Bill seeks to establish an adjudicator to monitor and enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice who will be able to: § act as arbitrator in disputes between retailers and their direct suppliers; § start investigations about potential breaches of the Code based on complaints from suppliers and/or information in the public domain. The IFA President said, “There is now a growing recognition among lawmakers in Europe of the need for robust legislation that will ensure fair play for producers. All the political parties here accept the imperative of a Code of Practice that will curb retailer dominance, and have made commitments to introduce tougher regulations. The Government must press ahead with their proposals immediately.” John Bryan said, “Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton has received a report from the facilitator John Travers, who has been working to progress the legislation around the Code of Practice and the independent Ombudsman. He must now move to the next stage and bring the legislation in.” |
Sunday, 05 June 2011 20:02