Debate on the Groceries Code Adjudicator

The Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) and Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA)

The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) was established by the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013. The current GCA is Mark White.

The GCA is responsible for enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP), which was introduced in 2009 following a market investigation by the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority, the CMA). The investigation found that competition and consumers were being adversely affected by some grocery chain practices.

The GSCOP sets out requirements for retailers when dealing with their direct suppliers. These cover fair dealing principles in relation to issues such as variation of supply agreements, delays in payments, compensation for forecasting errors and de-listing (when a retailer either stops buying groceries from a supplier for resale or significantly reduced the volume of purchases).

For more information on the establishment of the GCA and debate on the GCA Act 2013, see the Library briefing Supermarkets: The Groceries Code Adjudicator (2015).

The GSCOP only applies to designated grocery retailers, which are those that have an annual turnover of more than £1 billion “with respect to the retail supply of groceries in the United Kingdom”. The GCA is funded by a levy on the designated retailers. The GSCOP regulates the relationship between the designated retailers and their direct suppliers. It does not cover other relationships in groceries supply chains, for example farmers who do not supply directly to supermarkets.

The GCA is responsible for monitoring and encouraging compliance with the GSCOP and enforcing it. The work of the GCA includes:

• Working with suppliers and retailers to quickly respond to issues while preserving supplier anonymity.

• Encouraging suppliers to undertake training on the Code and to follow the latest developments and announcements.

• Arbitrating in disputes with retailers at the request of suppliers or retailers. Arbitration awards are binding and may include compensation.

• Launching investigations where the GCA has reasonable grounds to suspect a retailer has breached the GSCOP. The GCA can make recommendations, require retailers to publish details of any breach and, in the most serious cases, impose a fine of up to 1% of a retailer’s UK turnover.

Performance of the GCA

The GCA publishes Annual Reports and Accounts as well as newsletters and the results of its surveys of suppliers.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 requires the Government to review the performance and effectiveness of the GCA every three years. The statutory reviews are not intended to be a review of the GSCOP or the remit of the GCA. The government is currently consulting on the statutory review for 2022 to 2025.

Investigations into retailers

The GCA has carried out two investigations, the first into Tesco in 2015 and the second into the Co-op in 2018. The GCA has never fined a designated retailer. The GCA’s power to fine retailers came into force on 6 April 2015 and applies to breaches that occurred after that date. It did not apply to the Tesco investigation, because the breaches being investigated occurred before that date. The GCA did not consider the “nature and seriousness of the breaches by Co-op to merit a financial penalty”.

In January 2025, The Grocer reported that the GCA was considered an investigation into Amazon, following the GCA’s 2024 supplier survey, which found that “Despite the overall improvement in the treatment of suppliers, Amazon’s perceived Code compliance score fell from 59% to 47%.”

Extending the remit of the GCA and GSCOP

There have been ongoing calls for the remit of the GCA and GSCOP to extend other parts of the supply chain, particularly farmers, who may not be direct suppliers to designated retailers because they supply them via intermediaries.

For further information on the views of farmers, retailers and the GCA, see the Library briefing for a Debate on an e-petition to reform the Groceries Supply Code of Practice to better protect farmers (January 2024).

Fair dealing obligations

The previous government acknowledged that that the majority of primary producers are not direct suppliers to supermarkets and are not covered by the GCA, yet primary agricultural producers were particularly vulnerable to unfair trading practices (PDF). To help address this, Section 29 of the Agriculture Act 2020 allows the government to impose fair dealing obligations on business purchasers of agricultural products, via regulations.

For further information on section 29, see the Library briefing on The Agriculture Act 2020 (December 2020).

The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 were the first to come into force, in July 2024. An Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) was also created to enforce these fair dealing obligations. These changes were welcomed by farming groups who had long-campaigned on fairness in the dairy supply chain.

The Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025 were made on 21 May 2025 and fully come into force 12 weeks from that date. The regulations were welcomed by producers.

The previous government also consulted on and intended to introduce fair dealing regulations for the egg and fresh produce sectors. These regulations have not been laid yet.

During a debate on the GCA on 25 February 2025, Justin Madders, Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets, stated that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was still looking at the egg and fresh produce sectors. He also said that “ASCA and GCA are in regular contact to ensure that the two regimes operate effectively alongside one another” and that the government would “conduct a review to understand the effectiveness of the fair dealing regulations”.