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As our members know all too well, in recent years certain practices in the grocery industry, while not illegal, have distorted what should be the normal principles of fair and transparent behaviour. Some of those practices put independent grocers at a competitive disadvantage. Over the years, independent grocers have also found the Competition Act—and the Competition Bureau that enforces the Act—a mechanism that did not respond to many issues and often was a process that could be expensive and time consuming, with no assurance of a remedy. That is why CFIG was the first association in Canada to call for a Grocery Code of Conduct to be developed, similar to the approaches taken in other countries, such as the UK and Australia.
In November of 2020, Ottawa, along with the Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Agriculture and Food (FPT), launched an industry led process to develop a Grocery Code of Conduct for Canada. CFIG was one of the associations named to the Steering Committee to develop this Code.
Our ‘Made in Canada’ Code is now very close to completion, and we are providing you with the Progress Report submitted to the FPT. This document outlines the significant progress that has been made, the process involved and those areas where there is still work to be done. We expect that to be completed in the next few weeks.
CFIG believes this will be a major accomplishment for an industry that is so interdependent and interconnected—and will put our members and many other stakeholders in the grocery industry, in a much better position than had we just accepted the status quo and not pushed for a Code of Conduct. Our Code is what can best be described as a sum of its parts. No one section should be viewed in isolation but is integrated with the principles in all sections of the Code. Reciprocity is also a central theme of the Code, in that the principles apply to all stakeholders in the industry, not just one group.
Over the course of the next few months there will be industry consultation and information sessions held. CFIG will also supplement those with information sessions for our own members and will culminate in a special presentation at Grocery & Specialty Food West in Vancouver this coming April. Don’t miss it!
It is because of the support of you, our members, that we have been able to realize this legacy achievement for our industry. Thank you.
