ActionAid launched its Who Pays? campaign for a watchdog in 2007 to ensure that supermarkets trade fairly with their suppliers.  Since then it's become widely accepted – including by retailers themselves – that some purchasing practices are passing on unacceptable costs and risks to suppliers and producers in the UK and poor countries.

ActionAid is concerned that UK supermarket power over their supply chains - and therefore the millions of workers who produce their goods - has grown rapidly in recent years and is being misused.

Supermarket growth has not been matched by appropriate rules to govern how they act and we therefore need legally binding rules in place to ensure that supermarkets behave responsibly. 

An adjudicator would help farmers and exporters build stronger businesses and relieve some of the pressures that result in poverty pay and poor conditions for workers, Voluntary action by supermarkets has failed to solve the problem – now it’s time for the Government to make sure that supermarkets play fair. 

After a 2 year investigation, the Competition Commission found that supermarkets consistently use practices like:

• delaying payments to suppliers – a practice that can push small companies out of business, and people out of work;
• reducing the agreed price of an order after it’s been delivered;
• requiring payments from suppliers when supermarket profits are not as big as expected;
• requiring suppliers to contribute to the cost of opening a new store;
• changing orders at the last minute – for example, demanding different packaging and forcing suppliers to pick up the cost.To prevent practises like these.

ActionAid is calling for the establishment of an independent supermarkets adjudicator that would:

• Proactively monitor supermarket compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice 
• Allow indirect and overseas suppliers access to the scheme
• Allow suppliers to make complaints anonymously
• Be able to impose significant fines on retailers
• Be able to open investigations on the basis of credible intelligence from a range of sources
• Have the power to obtain from retailers all the information it needs to carry out investigations
• Allow all suppliers to submit complaints, regardless of their size
• Ensure that all suppliers, including those based overseas, are informed of their rights under the scheme

An amazing 42,000 of you have taken action, but we still have a lot of work to do to make sure it doesn’t drop off the agenda and has enough power to be effective.