Growing the code chain 

Growcom CEO, Jan Davis, stated in her column last week (QCL 19/6/08) that there was justification for excluding the two major retail chains from the Horticulture Code of Conduct because they were signatories to the "much more comprehensive Produce and Grocery Industry Code of Conduct, and that these transactions are subject to far more onerous requirements than those of the horticulture Code".

This claim does not stand up to even the most superficial scrutiny. For a start, the Produce and Grocery Industry Code of Conduct (PGICC) is voluntary – not mandatory, it has far less content and contains no prescribed requirements at all.

It does not prescribe the use of documented terms of trade, require a specific payment period or prescribe as a legal requirement that parties to a dispute must attend mediation.

What it does include is a principle that all industry participants support the right of suppliers and retailers to freely negotiate the terms and conditions of supply contracts.

This principle is the total opposite to the Code, which removes the rights of growers and wholesalers to freely negotiate the terms and conditions of supply contracts. The strong words of support which Growcom's CEO gives to the PGICC indicates that this Code should be the single code which serves the need of the whole industry.

If Growcom supports the principle of businesses negotiating freely in terms of the conditions of supply contracts, as evidenced by the CEO's emphatic and strong support for the PGICC, they should immediately distance themselves from the prescriptive regulatory approach of the Horticulture Code. Furthermore, if the PGICC sets a higher standard than the Horticulture Code (as Jan Davis claims), then Growcom should immediately show leadership and support the repeal of the Horticulture Code.

Wholesaler support for the PGICC already exists through the involvement of the wholesaling sector's peak industry body, The Australian Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, on the Code Administration Committee.

Furthermore, the wholesaling sector has been a signatory to this Code since its inception some eight years ago.

As a workable and cost effective alternative to the Horticulture Code, this position would also be likely to gain rapid and widespread support from other wholesaling sector representative organisations.