SEVEN LEADING industry associations today [16th September] came together to launch ‘The Supply Chain Initiative’, which aims to ensure fairness in commercial relations along the food supply chain, at a special event in Brussels.
Members of The Supply Chain Initiative – FoodDrinkEurope, European brand association AIM, the European Retail Round Table (ERRT), EuroCommerce, EuroCoop, The Union of Groups of Independent Retailers of Europe (UGAL), and agricultural traders (CELCAA)- came together in November 2011 to agree upon a set of Principles of Good Practice, resulting in a voluntary framework which was adopted in January of 2013.
Since then, all companies involved in the food supply chain have been encouraged to formally sign up and implement the Initiative, with 82 companies from across the entire EU have expressed their intention to register.
During the high-level event, Philip Clarke, President of the European Retail Round Table (ERRT) and CEO of Tesco PLC, said: “As an industry, we know how important it is to nurture strong, collaborative supply chains, and the self-regulatory initiative we are launching today reflects our commitment to working together in a positive and fair way. We started on this journey back in 2011, and what we have today is a framework which will protect all parties along the chain, so that we can focus on our important shared goal – delivering for the consumer.”
