Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator particularly in relation (1) to permitting them to open an inquiry on their own initiative, and (2) to extending its remit to the dairy sector.

The report on the last statutory review of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which was published in July 2023 concluded that a decision by the GCA to launch an investigation should be based upon some evidence or intelligence of non-compliance. The government will conduct the next statutory review of the GCA next year and all interested parties will have an opportunity to contribute their views.

‘Fair Dealings’ Regulations under the Agriculture Act 2020, including those which have already been introduced to cover the UK dairy sector, will be enforced by the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.