Supply Chains: Codes of Practice

(asked on 17th February 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on creating a timetable for the publication of new supply chain fair dealing codes for each sector.


Answered by
Mark Spencer Portrait
Mark Spencer
Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 27th February 2023

The Government wants all farmers to receive a fair price for their products and the Government is committed to tackling any contractual unfairness that might exist in the agri-food supply chain.

Powers contained in the Agriculture Act 2020 enable us to introduce statutory codes of contractual practice which would apply to processors and other businesses when purchasing agricultural products directly from farmers.

In 2020, the Government carried out a consultation seeking views from farmers and processors in the dairy sector on whether future regulation could be used to strengthen fairness and transparency in the supply chain to ensure farmers are treated fairly. We continue to work closely with stakeholders during the development of regulations and intend to introduce legislation later this year.

A subsequent consultation was conducted between July and October 2022 exploring issues in the pig sector. We are analysing the responses and considering appropriate next steps. A Summary of Responses, which will outline the main findings and conclusions from the consultation, will be published next month.

We intend to use these powers in a targeted way where there is clear evidence of unfair practices in specific agricultural sectors and statutory codes will help address the issues. The Government will continue to work closely with all sectors to discuss any supply chain issues.

Reticulating Splines