April 2022: Record of the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) progress meetings with Code Compliance Officers (CCOs)
Published 21 April 2022
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1. Attendees
The GCA (Mark White) and members of his team met with the CCOs and other representatives from the designated retailers (Retailers) as follows:
1.1 Tuesday 5 April 2022
- B&M European Value Retail SA
1.2 Thursday 7 April 2022
- Iceland Foods Ltd
- Lidl GB Ltd
- J Sainsbury plc
1.3 Monday 11 April 2022
- Amazon.com, Inc.
- Ocado Retail Ltd
1.4 Tuesday 12 April 2022
- Co-operative Group Ltd
- TJ Morris Ltd (trading as Home Bargains)
1.5 Wednesday 13 April 2022
- Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc
- Tesco plc
1.6 Thursday 14 April 2022
- Aldi Stores Ltd
- Waitrose Ltd
1.7 Wednesday 20 April 2022
- Marks and Spencer plc
- Asda Stores Ltd
2. Key points raised
2.1 Retailer update
CCOs provided updates to the GCA about compliance activities including actions from the previous meeting held in November/December 2021 where applicable, Code-related issues reported, topical issues and any upcoming initiatives likely to generate enquiries to the GCA.
2.2 Whole-house compliance
The GCA and Retailers discussed buyer turnover and handover procedures, staff training, and the link between remuneration, compliance and assurance.
2.3 Cost price increase (CPI) requests
The GCA and Retailers discussed inflation, the number of CPI requests suppliers are making to Retailers, their impact on supplier and Retailer businesses, and Retailer adherence to the 7 Golden Rules for CPI requests.
2.4 De-listing
The GCA and Retailers discussed the provisions of the Code and GCA guidance on de-listing.
2.5 Audit claims
The GCA and Retailers discussed retrospective audit claim levels and Retailers’ progress towards best practice in handling claims.
2.6 Any other business
The GCA and Retailers discussed any other business specific to Retailers.