Walker said it was “barmy” to expect grocers such as Iceland and The Co-operative Group to pay the same fee as Tesco and Walmart-owned Asda. “I will go to prison before I pay that fee,” he said.
Walker argued that the fee is unfair for smaller grocers and that the size of the company should be taken into account.
The Competition Commission expects the costs incurred by the Ombudsman to be met by the grocers.
The Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) applies to all grocery retailers with an annual turnover in the UK of at least£1 billion a year. The fee for each of these grocers is estimated to be£290,000 a year, with one-off set-up costs of about£1 million.
A Competition Commission spokesman said: “There is no pro-rata set-up for this fee, but we did ensure it applies only to the largest grocers. Of course, if grocers already comply with the Supplier Code of Practice, they may well pay less.”
Other grocers have previously hit out at the setting up of the Ombudsman.
Asda chief executive Andy Bond said the introduction of a regulator could hit consumers during the credit crunch as costs could be passed on.
Bond also pointed out that suppliers such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble were huge global companies that don’t need someone fighting their corner for them.
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