This week the ACCC released a new Food and Grocery Code of Conduct making it mandatory for Australia’s largest supermarkets and grocery wholesalers.
The code sets the rules for how supermarkets and wholesalers negotiate and contract with their suppliers.
Requirements of the new code include:
– Have a written supply agreement in place.
– Act lawfully and in good faith towards their suppliers.
– Ensure that suppliers are not penalised for exercising their rights under the code.
The ACCC has also launched a new online portal for people to make anonymous reports about potential contraventions of the code.
Supermarkets and wholesalers may now face penalties for going against the new code.
The code is mandatory for all retailers and wholesalers that earned over $5 billion from their supermarket or grocery wholesaling businesses in the previous financial year.
Under the code, suppliers are automatically protected.
The ACCC will be able to issue infringement notices and take court action seeking penalties against wholesalers and retailers that contravene the code.
These include a maximum penalty per contravention that will be the greater of $10 million, or three times the value of the benefit derived, or, if that value cannot be determined, 10 per cent of the company’s turnover during the preceding 12 months.
Additionally, businesses can make reports via the ACCC’s Infocentre under ‘Report an issue affecting your business or franchise.’
Before the new code was implemented, was voluntary and grocery retailers or wholesalers could opt-in to being bound by the rules.
For more information on the updated code, including the ACCC’s approach to enforcement and compliance actions, view ‘the food and grocery code of conduct’ on the ACC’s website.