Conservative and Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson has welcomed the commitment from the Conservative Party that if they win the next election they will introduce a supermarket ombudsman to help restore fairness and accountability to the supply chain.
Mr Nicholson, who is a member of an informal working group in the European Parliament looking at the power of supermarkets, said that the creation of a supermarket ombudsman with robust powers might be a first step towards restoring the confidence of farmers in the supply chain.
The announcement was made by the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nick Herbert MP at the Oxford Farming Conference.

In a statement Mr Nicholson said,
"The Labour Government's inability to do anything on this issue only serves to underline how damaging their time in office has been for our farmers. I think the creation of a supermarket ombudsman with robust powers might be a first step towards restoring the confidence of farmers in the supply chain who too often see their returns for their produce stay static or decline, whilst supermarkets report ever increasing profit margins.
"Bringing more accountability, transparency and fairness to the supply chain is absolutely essential especially when you have a small number of large supermarket chains who control a large part of the market.
"Relationships in the supply chain have not been good recently and farmers have every reason to be annoyed at the actions of the large supermarket chains. However, creating good working relationships across the supply chain between producers, processors and retailers must be a priority and is something that can be helped through the creation of a supermarket ombudsman. Indeed independent research has shown that introducing a supermarket ombudsman would not result in increased prices for consumers despite what some retailers have claimed.
"An informal an informal working group in the European Parliament looking at the power of supermarkets met for the first time in November and will meet again in January. I look forward to the work of this group. Quite clearly momentum is growing for Europe to take some action to help restore farmer's confidence in the supply chain."