§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what meetings her Department's officials and Ministers have had since March about drawing up the code of practice for retailers' behaviour in relation to their suppliers; what the dates of meetings with external organisations and companies were; and who attended the meetings; [12098]
(2) when the latest version of the draft code of practice for retailers' behaviour in relation to their suppliers will be circulated for consultation; to which organisations and companies it will be sent for comment; and if she will place a copy in the Library. [12097]
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§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 6 November 2001]: The Director General of Fair Trading consulted with the major supermarkets and over 100 representatives of suppliers on the drafting of the code of practice on supermarkets' relations with their suppliers earlier this year.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry announced on 31 October that she had accepted the Director General's advice on the code and had asked him to seek to obtain undertakings from the four leading supermarket chains to comply with the code. Copies of her announcement and the code have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
Ministers and officials at the Department of Trade and Industry have had no meetings since March with interested parties about drawing up the code of practice on supermarkets' relations with their suppliers.
The Director General of Fair Trading was given responsibility for drawing up the code.