3/12/2007

Farm leaders today welcomed a call by Wales Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones for the appointment of an Ombudsman to regulate supermarkets.

Elin Jones said: ' Having a good relationship between retailers and suppliers in the grocery market is important. I feel it would be of benefit to all, suppliers and retailers, if there was an independent body to monitor and regulate the sector.' 

' I have already met with representatives of the main supermarkets to encourage the promotion of Welsh meat in their stores and I intend to continue working with them. 'It is clear that people want to buy fresh produce and it is in all our interest that there are measures in place to protect all parties.'

"The Minister's demands are exactly what we have, on many occasions, been urging the Westminster Government to introduce over the past few years," said Farmers' Union of
Wales president Gareth Vaughan.

"Our latest call for more urgent action to curtail the far-reaching problems caused by supermarket power was made just over a month ago after the Competition Commission
published a provisional report of their inquiry into the grocery market

"Although the findings were nowhere near as hard hitting as we hoped, it was a damning report in the light of the massive power supermarkets now have over the daily lives of every UK resident.

"It noted the buying power of grocery retailers and intermediaries is influencing farm profitability and drew attention to the risks this could pose for the future of
the UK agriculture industry.

"Those are the reasons why we have expressed concerns regarding excessive supermarket power, and have repeatedly called for a regulator or Ombudsman to police the relationship between the large retailers and suppliers."

Speaking after presenting evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee today, NFU Cymru President Dai Davies said, “Food security is crucially important and is a primary function which we believe to be of strategic importance to Wales.

“There is fierce competition in the market place combined with unrelenting pressure on price, which has meant that consumers have benefited in the past from cheap food prices, high quality and tremendous choice of product. However, this is unsustainable and has the potential to damage the food supply chain in Wales and indeed beyond.

“What NFU Cymru is looking for is a food chain that functions properly, where fairness, transparency and sustainability are respected and where value added is rewarded. Sadly, this is not happening at the moment, a prime example of which being the difficulty faced this year by the sheep sector, which has been financially decimated by the ramifications of foot and  mouth disease. Welsh lamb prices at the beginning of November were 29% lower than last year and covered just 52% of the cost of production. Although you would expect this to reflect in retail prices, in fact, according to figures from the Meat and Livestock Commission, the average retail price actually increased by 4.3%.

“I see neither fairness, nor transparency, nor a sustainable position for the livestock industry at present, and it is for this reason that we feel it is imperative that the supermarket code of conduct is toughened and extended to cover all supermarkets. There must also be an independent Ombudsman with the power to act where there is evidence of abuse.

“I hope that supermarkets embrace the idea of an ombudsman who could shine a light on best practice and highlight those supermarkets for whom fair trade is more than just a catchphrase.�