Compulsory dairy contracts get go-ahead from government
Dairy processors face being locked into compulsory milk supply contracts for the first time, after the UK government and devolved administrations agreed to create a new code of conduct for the sector.
The new code would “provide a guiding framework, establishing minimum standards but also providing businesses with the flexibility to adapt contracts to their individual circumstances”, it added.
Officials are looking at a raft of options over how the new code will be enforced, ranging from advisory panels to an independent adjudicator model – similar to the Groceries Code Adjudicator. “We will consider all evidence and will continue to work with industry to design an effective enforcement mechanism,” suggested a Defra spokeswoman.
The long-awaited code follows a 12-week consultation into tackling unfair practices across the sector last summer. It would ensure a “fairer dairy supply chain”, Defra added, after environment secretary George Eustice had previously admitted the sector’s voluntary code “had not worked”.
Source: https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/dairy/compulsory-dairy-contracts-get-go-ahead-from-government/652775.article


