News story

Amazon now bound by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice

Groceries suppliers can now contact the GCA with information of how they are being treated by Amazon.com, Inc. (Amazon).

From today (1 March 2022), Amazon has become the 14th retailer to be bound by the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. The Code regulates how all designated retailers manage their relationships with suppliers to ensure they are treating them fairly and lawfully. This follows the decision to designate Amazon by the Competition and Markets Authority published on 9 February 2022.

In response, the Groceries Code Adjudicator, Mark White, will be working with Amazon’s Code Compliance Officer (CCO) to help the organisation transition to complying with the Code. He is also inviting suppliers to contact the GCA if they have any concerns about how they are being treated by Amazon. Information provided helps inform the GCA’s engagement with Amazon to ensure they are Code compliant. All information received is dealt with on a confidential basis and the GCA has a legal duty to preserve anonymity.

Suppliers can also speak to Amazon’s CCO, Alex Simpson. CCOs work independently from the rest of their organisations and can discuss with you any issue which relates to the Retailer’s obligations under the Code. CCOs (including Alex Simpson) have committed to treat in confidence any information suppliers provide unless they agree that details can be disclosed to the rest of the organisation.

Mark White, the Groceries Code Adjudicator said:

“Now that Amazon is covered by the Code, I am looking forward to working with their CCO to ensure that they are complying with the Code and treating their suppliers lawfully and fairly.

“As the groceries industry faces a range of challenges, my message to Amazon groceries’ suppliers is to get in touch if you have any Code-related issues. Your feedback is vital for informing my discussions with Amazon.”

How to contact the GCA

To tell the GCA about a Code-related issue with Amazon, you can:

How to contact Amazon

If grocery suppliers want to contact the Amazon Code Compliance Officer (CCO), all CCO details are available here.

Details of Amazon’s supplier helplines are also available here.

Updates to this page

Published 1 March 2022