HC 1224 Draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill

Written evidence submitted by Tesco

I am writing to confirm that our comments to the above committee inquiry will be incorporated in the evidence submitted by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) as indicated when you originally spoke with my colleague Katherine Edwards.

The only additional point we would want to make is that from our own experience of GSCOP, the system is working well. Tesco has gone beyond the requirements of the Code’s implementation. In addition to receiving training on the Code and setting up an email address for suppliers to contact us or raise concerns, we have chosen to regularly audit compliance with GSCOP. We have received correspondence from large and small suppliers through a variety of channels without the need for anonymity. Suppliers have been willing to contact their buyer to raise an issue. Others have gone directly to the Code compliance team.

I do hope these comments are helpful and assist with the Committee's scrutiny.

17 June 2011