Farmers and crofters have been urged to share their experience of working with retailers.
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is calling on all who supply supermarkets, either directly or through a middleman, to speak out about their experiences via an online survey.
“It is completely anonymous, so suppliers can speak freely about their experiences with retailers, what they think needs to change and provide their views on the GCA,” it said.
NFU Scotland welcomed the launch of the survey and urged all suppliers to respond.
It also reiterated its call for the remit of the GCA to be extended to cover the whole supply chain.
The union’s food chain relationships manager, John Armour said: “Recent problems in the dairy, potato and poultry sectors clearly demonstrate the need to strengthen relations and increase confidence between producers, their processors and the retailers.
“We consider it essential that the GCA is given the power to receive complaints from indirect as well as direct suppliers. Inevitably, it is the primary producer who is impacted during periods of volatility or dispute. It is therefore good news that this survey is open to trade associations and other representative organisations, like NFU Scotland, as well as direct and indirect suppliers to the retailers.”
Christine Tacon, who previously headed up the Co-operative’s farming operations, was appointed to the role of GCA in 2013.
She has been tasked with ensuring the UK’s biggest 10 supermarkets with a turnover of more than £1billion abide by the grocery code.
The code, which became law in February 2010, prohibits any change in supply agreements without notice.
This includes payment terms, limits on payments for shrinkage or wastage, compensation for forecasting errors and demanding a lump sum after a deal has been agreed.
The survey, which can be accessed at www.yougov.com/gca, closes on May 1. The results will be presented at the GCA Conference on June 22.