House of Commons Amendments

Session 2012 - 13
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

19

House of Commons

Notices of Amendments

given up to and including

Friday 7 December 2012

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Public Bill Committee

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [Lords]

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

22


Clause  2,  page  1,  line  11,  at end add—

‘(3)
Where the adjudicator is appointing an arbitrator the following must be taken into

account—

(a)
the location of the arbitration considering the convenience of the

supplier;

(b)
the qualifications of the arbitrator;

(c)
the experience of the arbitrator; and

(d)
the awareness which the arbitrator has of

(i)
the laws applying in—

(a)
England and Wales;

(b)
Scotland; and

(c)
Northern Ireland; and

(ii)
the market and economic conditions applying in—

(a)
England and Wales;

(b)
Scotland; and

(c)
Northern Ireland.’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
20

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Andrew George

19

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  5,  leave out subsection (1) and insert—

‘(1)
The Adjudicator may carry out an investigation where there are reasonable

grounds to suspect that a large retailer has—

(a)
broken the Groceries Code; or

(b)
failed to follow a recommendation made under section 7; or

(c)
failed to incorporate the Groceries Code into a supply agreement, as

required under Article 5 of the Groceries Supply Order.’.

Andrew George

37


Clause  4,  page  2,  line  7,  after ‘Code’, insert ‘since the Code since came into force.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

61


Clause  4,  page  2,  line  10,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The powers to require provision of information as set out in Schedule 2 shall be

exercisable from the day on which this Act is passed.’.

Andrew George

15

Clause  4,  page  2,  line  12,  at end add—

‘(4)
The Adjudicator will have authority to review compliance and to undertake one

or more investigations if the Adjudicator suspects that there has been any breach

of the Groceries Code since that Code came into force on 4 February 2010.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

42


Clause  5,  page  2,  line  21,  at end insert—

‘(d)
any finding that an investigation should be referred to the Office of Fair

Trading on the basis that a large retailer is believed to have engaged in

anti-competitive practices.’.

Andrew George

20

Clause  6,  page  2,  line  26,  leave out from ‘that’ to end of line 28 and insert ‘any of

the grounds for launching an investigation under section 4(1) has in fact occurred, the

Adjudicator may take one or more of the following enforcement measures—’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
21

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Andrew George

21

Clause  7,  page  2,  line  33,  leave out subsection (1) and insert—

‘(1)
If the Adjudicator chooses to enforce through making recommendations, that

means—

(a)
in the case that a retailer has been found to have broken the Groceries

Code, or has failed to follow a previous recommendation made under this

section, recommending what the large retailer should do in order to

comply with the Groceries Code; and

(b)
in the case that a retailer has been found to have failed to incorporate the

Groceries Code into a Supply Agreement, as required under Article 5 of

the Groceries Supply Order, recommending what the large retailer should

do in order to comply with Article 5 of the Groceries Supply Order.’.

Andrew George

35


Clause  7,  page  2,  line  36,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
If the Adjudicator determines that a recommendation has not been, or is not being,

followed, the Adjudicator may issue a requirement notice to the large retailer in

which the Adjudicator may set out one or more recommendations with which the

large retailer must comply. Such requirement notice may in the Adjudicator’s

discretion contain a time period for compliance and an indication of which other

form of enforcement the Adjudicator envisages might be imposed in the event of

continued non-compliance.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

43


Clause  8,  page  3,  line  9,  at end insert—

‘(d)
where it is to be published.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

44


Clause  9,  page  3,  line  17,  leave out from ‘penalties’ to end of subsection (1).

Jo Swinson

2

Clause  9,  page  3,  line  17,  leave out subsection (1).

Jo Swinson

3

Clause  9,  page  3,  line  20,  leave out from ‘to’ to end of line 21 and insert ‘enforce

through imposing financial penalties, that means imposing a penalty on the large retailer

of an amount not exceeding the amount of the permitted maximum (see subsection (7)).’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
22

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Jo Swinson

4

Clause  9,  page  3,  line  25 ,  leave out ‘and’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

45


Clause  9,  page  3,  line  26,  leave out from subsection (c) and insert—

‘(c)
that it shall be paid within 28 days.’.

Jo Swinson

5

Clause  9,  page  3,  line  26 ,  at end insert ‘; and

( )
how it must be paid.’.

Jo Swinson

6

Clause  9,  page  3,  line  34 ,  at end insert—

‘(7)
The Secretary of State must make an order—

(a)
specifying the amount of the permitted maximum, or

(b)
specifying how that amount is to be determined.

(8)
The Adjudicator must, within 6 months beginning with the day on which
5
section 1 comes into force, make a recommendation as to the amount that should

be specified in the first order under subsection (7) or the method for determining

the amount.

(9)
Before making a recommendation the Adjudicator must consult any person he or

she thinks appropriate.
10
(10)
The Secretary of State—

(a)
must have regard to the Adjudicator’s recommendation when making the

first order under subsection (7);

(b)
may amend or replace an order under subsection (7) only if the Secretary

of State has considered whether to do so as part of a review under
15
section 15.

(11)
The Adjudicator may not impose a financial penalty in respect of a breach of the

Groceries Code that occurs before the first order under subsection (7) comes into

force.’.

As Amendments to Jo Swinson’s proposed Amendment (No. 6):—

Andrew George

(a)

Line  3,  at end insert—

‘(7A)
The Secretary of State must make the order referred to in subsection (7) within 3

months of the Adjudicator making the recommendation referred to in subsection

(8).’.

Andrew George

(b)


Line  7,  leave out ‘or’ and insert ‘and’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
23

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Andrew George

(c)


Line  9,  leave out ‘must and insert ‘may’.

Andrew George

(d)


Line  19,  at end add ‘unless the breach started before, and continues after, that

date.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

46


Clause  10,  page  4,  line  10,  at end insert—

‘(6)
Costs do not form part of financial penalties as described in section 9.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

23


Clause  11,  page  4,  line  14,  after ‘to’, insert ‘the public,’.

Jo Swinson

7

Clause  12,  page  4,  line  20 ,  leave out ‘and’.

Jo Swinson

8

Clause  12,  page  4,  line  22 ,  at end insert ‘; and

(d)
the criteria that the Adjudicator intends to adopt in deciding the amount

of any financial penalty under section 9.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

47


Clause  12,  page  4,  line  22,  at end insert—

‘(d)
the criteria that the Adjudicator intends to adopt in deciding whether to

impose financial penalties under section 9 together with maximium

penalty that may be imposed and how the maximum penalty is to be

calculated.’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
24

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Andrew George

Huw Irranca-Davies

Ian Murray

39


Clause  12,  page  4,  line  25,  at end insert ‘including monitoring compliance with the

Groceries Code.’.

Jo Swinson

9

Clause  12,  page  4,  line  31 ,  leave out subsection (4).

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

48


Clause  12,  page  4,  line  31,  leave out from beginning to ‘penalties’ in line 32.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

49


Clause  12,  page  4,  line  37,  at end insert ‘including appropriate Ministers from the

Devolved Administrations.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

50


Clause  12,  page  4,  line  39,  leave out ‘6’ and insert ‘3’.

Jo Swinson

10

Clause  12,  page  4,  line  39 ,  leave out ‘and (c)’ and insert ‘, (c) and (d)’.

Andrew George

40


Clause  13,  page  5,  line  3,  after ‘Code’, insert ‘or the Groceries Supply Order.’.

Andrew George

16

Clause  13,  page  5,  line  3,  at end add—

‘(2)
In considering such changes, the Adjudicator shall review the territorial extent of

the Groceries Code, especially in relation to the activities of large retailers outside

the United Kingdom, such activities to include supplier trading practices and

activities undertaken by the subsidiaries of large retailers.’.

Notices of Amendments: 7 December 2012
25

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill-[Lords], continued

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

51


Clause  13,  page  5,  line  3,  at end insert—

‘(2)
The Office of Fair Trading shall be required to respond to the Adjudicator and

Secretary of State on the recommendations as set out in subsection (1) explaining

whether they will be acted upon or not.’.

Andrew George

Huw Irranca-Davies

Ian Murray

41


Clause  14,  page  5,  line  12,  at end insert—

‘(a)
the Adjudicator’s assessment of large retailers’ compliance with the

Groceries Code.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

52


Clause  14,  page  5,  line  12,  at end insert—

‘(d)
the resources available to the Adjudicator.

(e)
recommendations made to the Office of Fair Trading as set out in section

13.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

56


Clause  14,  page  5,  line  14,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
The Adjudicator must consider in advance of each annual report whether to

recommend changes to the Groceries Code to the Office of Fair Trading.’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

53


Clause  14,  page  5,  line  19,  at end insert—

‘(c)
the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee;

(d)
the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee;

(e)
their respective successor committees from time to time; and

(f)
the Devolved Administrations’.

Ian Murray

Huw Irranca-Davies

24


Clause  15,  page  5,  line  27,  after ‘must’, insert ‘appoint an independent Review

Panel to’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 10 December 2012