Government Refuses To Allow Groceries Code Adjudicator To Impose Fines

The Government has confirmed that the body that is to be set up to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) will not have the power to impose fines on grocery retailers.

The confirmation is set out in the Government's  response to the Business, Innovation and Skills Commons Select Committee Report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill which was published in May 2011.  Our previous Law-Now can be found here.

The Select Committee had recommended that the draft Bill be amended to include fines as a sanction available to the Adjudicator, a recommendation originally made by the Competition Commission following its inquiry into the grocery sector in 2008.  Although the Government considers the arguments are finely balanced, and whilst it reserves the power to introduce fines at a later date, it considers that the appointment of the Adjudicator, the risk of an investigation and the publication of the details of an