London Editor
The former boss of the UK's largest agricultural holding has been named the first supermarket watchdog to protect farmers from bullying.
Christine Tacon, who last year stood down as Co-operative Farms' managing director after 11 years, has been appointed as the long-awaited Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA).
The ombudsman has the power to levy fines and "name and shame" Britain's ten biggest supermarkets if they fail to treat suppliers fairly.
Complaints from Westcountry farmers, who have long called for a watchdog, include supermarkets demanding one-off payments from suppliers to guarantee future business and forcing them to sell produce on two-for-one discounts.
The announcement comes five years after the post was first recommended by the Competition Commission following a lengthy investigation which found that large retailers were passing on excessive risks and unexpected costs to their suppliers.
The commission argued that the power of large supermarkets was having an adverse impact on suppliers and consumers. It was initially hoped that the industry would voluntarily move to launch a body but the Commission stepped in when it failed to garner support.
Ms Tacon will enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, which came into force in 2010 and regulates activities between the ten biggest supermarkets with an annual turnover of £1 billion and their direct suppliers.
Ms Tacon will earn £69,000 a year for the three-days-a-week job of "groceries code adjudicator", once the creation of the post is approved by Parliament.
She said: "Coming from a commercial background, I am sure that if we can increase trust between retailers and their direct suppliers, it will lead to greater efficiency and can only have a beneficial impact on the rest of the supply chain."
Ms Tacon, who is a chartered engineer and chairman of UK Farming, was awarded a CBE for services to agriculture in 2004.
Stephen Gilbert, Liberal Democrat MP for St Austell and Newquay, said: "Farmers and suppliers in Cornwall are in an unfair fight with the big supermarkets. Many receive unfair prices and are struggling to stay in business. This damages our local community and our local economy. A vibrant community needs farmers and suppliers and they deserve a fair deal."
National Farmers' Union head of food and farming Phil Hudson said: "This is an important step forward and will reassure farmers that progress continues to be made to introduce an adjudicator that will have the necessary 'teeth' to curb the abuses of power that can undermine farmers and the supply chain."