UK grocery retailers have again hit out at a draft bill to establish a regulatory body that will oversee the relationship between retailers and their suppliers.

The UK’s coalition government today (24 May) presented a draft bill to establish an ombudsman to oversee the implementation of the Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP). The move is designed to curb the powers of the country’s major retailers and block any “abuses” of power in the grocery supply chain.

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Retailers, who have been vocal in their criticism of the plans, insisted that the ombudsman would push up costs and result in higher prices for consumers.

The grocers criticised the coalition government’s insistence that the ten largest supermarket operators would fund the body.

“We are going to get it now, it seems highly unlikely that the proposal will be halted,” a spokesperson for industry body The British Retail Consortium (BRC) told just-food. “The most important thing is that it is introduced in a way that imposes the fewest costs on retailers and keeps the regulatory bill to a minimum.”

The Government has estimated that the ombudsman will cost GBP800,000 (US$1.3m) a year to run. However, the BRC remains unconvinced.

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“If the Government really believes a public body can be run that cheaply it should cap the charges imposed on them at that level and commit to funding any extra costs itself,” BRC food director Andrew Opie insisted.

According to the BRC, the ombudsman is likely to present a “substantial” additional cost to retailers that will be “hard to keep from filtering through” to consumers.

“The supermarket adjudicator will just add costs to retailers and push up shop prices for customers,” Opie concluded.