The Federal Government is urging farmers and suppliers to provide feedback for the 2024 Annual Food and Grocery Code Independent Reviewer’s Survey.
This survey aims to assess compliance with the Code, which regulates interactions between major supermarkets—Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, and Metcash, and suppliers.
Monitoring supermarket conduct is essential to addressing anti-competitive behaviour in the food and grocery sector, a priority for the Government. The initiative seeks to promote fairness for both farmers and consumers.
This year’s survey incorporates recommendations of Dr Craig Emerson’s Review of the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct to monitor suppliers’ experience agreeing to exceptions to the Code and retribution concerns.
These changes to the survey form part of the Government’s commitment to implement all recommendations of the review, announced in June this year.
The Federal Government plans to introduce legislation later this year that will impose significant multi-million dollar penalties for serious violations of the Code.
Additionally, the government will grant the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission new authority to issue infringement notices when there is reasonable grounds to believe a breach has occurred.
The updated mandatory Code, which includes enhanced dispute resolution mechanisms, is set to take effect on 1 April 2025.
Suppliers eligible for participation in the survey will have received correspondence from the Independent Reviewer, Chris Leptos AO, containing the survey link.
The survey closes on 26 November and results will be published with the Independent Reviewer’s Annual Report.
To see the previous years’ results, including how the major supermarkets rate against each other and the annual reports, click here.