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THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • MARCH 2018
NEWS •
New funding to ‘rebalance’
supply chain – but no change
toGCA remit
Growers of edibles andornamentals inEnglandmay
benefit from a new £10million fund to help them co-
operate to improve efficiency and competitiveness,
access newmarkets and strengthen their position in the
supply chain. The fundwill bemade available though
theRural Development Programme for England andwill
be open togroups of individual businesses, existing co-
operatives andProducer Organisations. The government’s
announcement inFebruary came following its review
of the groceries code adjudicator GCA inwhich it had
consultedproducers on the need for further action against
unfair tradingpractices. It saidmost respondents felt the
adjudicator has had apositive impact on commercial
relationships in the groceriesmarket but that thebalance
of bargainingpower in the supply chainwas still causing
problems. It hopes the new fundwill bringproducers
together or help existinggroups to expand,making them
more able to compete. Other concerns revealedby the
consultation included unfair or unclear contract terms,
difficulties causedby latepayments, and a lack of trust
and transparency that discourages good relationships. ‘A
number of submissions highlighted the unfair pressures
placedonprimary producers" for example, through
unfavourable contract terms, delays inpayments, and
short notice of price reductions and specifications,’ the
government said. ‘Thesepractices limit the ability of
farmers andgrowers tobudget effectively,manageprice
volatility, and run aprofitablebusiness.’Whileproducers
supported some kindof government action to extend
the adjudicator’s remit – so it covered, for instance,
contractual relationships betweenprimary producers
andprocessors ormanufacturers, smaller retailers than
the 10 currently regulatedby the groceries supply code
of practice, and the food service sector –most large
retailers argued against any further intervention. On the
basis of the submissions it had received, the government
said it would not be ‘appropriate’ tomake any changes
to the adjudicator’s remit at present. ‘Although there are
clearly a number of concerns relating to the experience
of some farmers andgrowers in the supply chain, there
is no clear evidence of systematicwidespreadmarket
failures,’ it said. ‘However, there is significant potential
to exploremore targeted andproportionate approaches.
These shouldgobeyond existing reliance on voluntary
codes of practice and encourage greater transparency
and fairness.’ It said last October’s appointment of a
small business commissioner was part of apackage
ofmeasures to tackle ‘a latepayment culture’ while
it will workwith industry to see if the collection and
disseminationofmarket data couldbe improved inorder
to foster price transparency along the food supply chain.
Farmingminister GeorgeEustice said: ¸Toooften in the
past, farmers have endedupbeingprice takers.
¸If wewant a successful farming industry in the future
then it is essential that we haveproperly functioning
markets and that farmers receive a fair share of the value
of the food they produce.¹NFU horticulture adviser Amy
Gray said thedecisionnot to extend the adjudicator’s
remit toother players in the supply chain and to trade in
ornamentals, which theNFU hadbeen calling for, was
‘amissedopportunity’. ¸The ornamentals industry has
been facing similar issues to those that theGCAwas set
up todeal with in freshproduce,¹ she said. ¸TheNFUwill
continue toworkwith retailers to see if they can agree to
adopt the code of best practice for ornamentals that we
introduced in 2013. ¸We also think there is potential to
extend theNFU’s ‘fruit and vegpledge’, throughwhich
retailers havebeen supportingUK freshproduce growers
by agreeing to a set of fair tradingprinciples, to secure
similar commitments from retailers in the ornamentals
market.¹ She said the annoucement of new fundingwas
welcome as it was clear recognitionby government of the
importance of supporting collaboration and co-operation.
EFRA labour crisis inquiry
TheEnvironment, Food andRural AffairsSelect
Committee EFRA is to relaunch an inquiry into the
horticulture sector’s labour crisis, and re-new calls for
a new seasonal workers scheme. Last year theEFRA
Committee launched an inquiry into the availability of
labour for work in the agriculture andhorticulture sectors,
investigatingwhat level of labour shortages therewere
and themain reasons for those shortages, withBrexit
also under consideration. It thenproduced a report,
‘Feeding the nation: labour constraints’. TheCommittee
has decided to re-launch and re-open that inquiry to
investigatewhether the labour situation facedby those
working in agriculture, horticulture and foodproduction
has improvedor deterioratedover thepast year, and to
inquire intowhether theGovernment’s statements at the
time haveproven accurate. TheCommitteewill be holding
evidence sessions between now and theEaster recess
and is seekingwritten evidence to inform its inquiry.
TheCommittee said it wouldwelcomewritten
submissions frombusinesses andorganisations in the
agriculture, horticulture and food sectors.
