The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine is scheduled to meet with Christine Tacon, the UK’s Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) today (Tuesday, November 5).
The meeting will take place at 3:00pm in Committee Room 1 of Leinster House.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, committee chairman Pat Deering TD said: “Members look forward to hearing an update from Ms. Tacon in relation to compliance and enforcement of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice in the UK.
The GCA’s role is to monitor, ensure compliance with and enforce the UK Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which exists to ensure that the UK’s 13 regulated retailers treat their direct suppliers lawfully and fairly across a range of supply chain practices.
“We are particularly interested in hearing about the unfair trading practices that have been pursued and the engagement with the retailers.”
Continuing, deputy Deering highlighted further interest from an Irish perspective, adding:
“The committee’s recent report on The Future of the Beef Sector called for the establishment of a sectoral regulator in Ireland with responsibility for both the enforcement of the EU’s Unfair Trading Practices Directive and the delivery of ongoing regulatory interventions to improve the welfare of farmers.
This engagement with the GCA will give members an opportunity to see how such a regulator works in the UK.
For those interested, the meeting in Committee Room 1 can be viewed live on the Oireachtas website.
