Planet Retail 6 May 2008

According to reports in the British press, Asda has dropped its opposition to overseas suppliers being included in a new code of conduct designed to protect against unfair terms imposed by UK grocery chains.

Prior to the Competition Commission's final report, Asda submitted a statement to the body urging it to exclude overseas suppliers from the proposed code, arguing that British grocers would be at a disadvantage because overseas suppliers had customers in other countries. A spokesman for Asda said: "During the Competition Commission inquiry we had concerns about the cost and complication of extending the code overseas. We have since been reassured that it's workable. We already have a strict ethical code of conduct that applies to all our suppliers both here and overseas, so it wasn't a matter of ethics, just a matter of resisting unnecessary bureaucracy. We're broad-shouldered enough to change our minds and drop our opposition."

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