The Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, which governs the relationship between supermarkets and suppliers, is voluntary but will become mandatory from April 2025.
The structure of the code will remain unchanged.
The government’s proposal involves maximum fines of $10 million, or three times the benefit gained from the breach, or 10 per cent of turnover in the previous 12 months.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would be given extra powers to issue infringement notices to supermarkets that breach the code.
Suppliers experienced an imbalance between them and supermarkets but the risk of retaliation made it impossible to address, Competition Minister Andrew Leigh said.
“Through our reforms, we’re ensuring that suppliers to supermarkets get a better deal and that consumers from supermarkets get a better deal,” he said when introducing the legislation to Federal Parliament on Wednesday, November 27.
Dr Leigh said Australia had one of the most concentrated grocery sectors in the OECD.
“It is important that we have reforms in place that deal with the potential of those large supermarkets to throw their weight around.”
Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud said Labor had failed farmers and families with this “bungled” legislation.
“Labor hasn’t given the critical issue of supermarket price gouging and its impact on families and farmers the respect it deserves. It will not do one thing to fix supermarket prices,” he said.
“Labor didn’t consult with farmers and didn’t make fair supermarket prices for families and farmers a priority. This bill is messy and incompetent.”
– with AAP.
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