The ACCC grocery inquiry report has been released.

The ACCC did not identify anything that is fundamentally wrong with the grocery supply chain. Evidence provided to the inquiry did not support the proposition that retail prices have risen while farm-gate prices have stagnated or declined. The ACCC did not find any evidence to suggest that the major supermarket chains are acting in an anti-competitive way in their dealings with suppliers of fresh products.

The Government has also released its preliminary action plan in response to the Report.

The Government intends to move in the following areas as a matter of urgency:

• refer the anti-competitive impacts of state and local zoning and planning laws to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG);
• the Government will consider the best way to introduce a mandatory nationally-consistent unit pricing regime. Issues such as the product range that’s captured and store size will need to be worked through in consultation with industry to ensure compliance costs are kept to a minimum.;
• the Minister for Agriculture will work together with the horticultural industry through the Horticulture Code Committee to carefully consider the ACCC’s 13 recommendations to enhance the operation of the Horticulture Code of Conduct (which regulates trade in horticulture produce between growers and traders and provides dispute resolution procedures); and
• the Government will implement a creeping acquisition law ( ie acquisition by the large chains of smaller competitors over time), releasing a discussion paper by the end of August.

The Government has also set up the GROCERYchoice website that gives consumers a snapshot of local grocery prices.