Ottawa-The Grocery Sector Code of Conduct is aiming to be in operation by Jan. 1, Karen Proud, its president and adjudicator has told the Commons agriculture committee.

An office was established back in March to administer the Code which Proud described as a framework to strengthen trust, transparency and fairness across Canada’s grocery supply chain.

The Code office is fully operational with a communications platform and member portal. “We have seen strong engagement across the sector. To date, nearly 100 companies have joined as members, representing every part of the supply chain.”

Proud has participated in 39 stakeholder meetings and 28 industry events nationwide to raise awareness of the Code and help companies prepare for compliance.

The Code office has also issued monthly newsletters, published guidance materials and held a webinar. “The enthusiasm and support from across the industry have been encouraging.”

Now the office is focused on finalizing its dispute resolution management process (DRMP), which needs to be in place for the Code to begin full operation and launch its formal membership recruitment campaign.

“Developing the DRMP has been a challenging but necessary process. We are creating, from scratch, a fair and accessible mechanism for resolving disputes, within the constraints of a voluntary, non-regulated framework,” Proud said.

Ensuring the DRM is credible, practical, accessible and trusted by all “has taken some time, but we are close. I believe we now have the tools needed to move forward. They may not be perfect - few things are at the outset - but they are a solid foundation on which to start and I am confident they will strengthen over time as we gain experience.”

The office is also working on finalizing dispute resolution, launching formal recruitment, expanding its education and outreach efforts and preparing for the Code’s launch.

Proud thanked the committee for its ongoing attention to the Code. “For a voluntary framework like ours, the continued interest and oversight of Parliament is critical. It helps sustain momentum and reinforces that accountability and fairness in the grocery sector remain a national priority.”

Answering questions from Dave Epp, Conservative MP for Chatham-Kent—Leamington, Proud said disputes in the grocery business would be expected to involve retailer intimidation of suppliers “but the inverse, as we've heard in testimony for a couple of years, can also be true.”

“The code very specifically has a provision that speaks to the fact that it's a contravention of the code if there is intimidation or other factors against a supplier or retailer for exercising their rights under the Code.”

Complaints can be made to the Code office or the DRMP and the office will investigate and come to a finding. “Our main role, really, is to try to address these things before they become formal complaints so there's absolutely a mechanism through which anyone can complain to us and we will follow up and try to work that out with the other player.”

Members can complain about a specific problem and the office will investigate to see if can correct the problem.

“Ultimately, the stick we have is the fact that we can publish public reports, so, through the formal process, that's a notice of non-compliance, potentially, but I can also publish reports, and I intend to publish reports on a regular basis about what's going on.”

This news report prepared for National Newswatch