DAIRY INDUSTRY "SNUBBED" BY SUPERMARKETS

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th May 2009

Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland has spoken of his disappointment that all but one of the big supermarkets effectively snubbed the industry by failing to join in talks during a dairy summit.

Jim Hume said:

"It was hugely disappointing that all but one of the big supermarkets snubbed this summit.

"There seems no good reason why competition law can allow Morrisons to turn up while preventing Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and even the British Retail Consortium from attending.

"The NFUS set out clearly the action that industry, the supply chain and government must now take. All agreed that the time for gathering to describe the problem has long passed. Now is the time for action.

"With cross party support, an ombudsman with real teeth and a new robust labelling code can be delivered. Scottish Ministers must also agree to ditch plans to use article 68, which would only siphon money out of the dairy industry.

"Progress in these areas is needed if the next dairy summit is to take place with more confidence about long term prospects for the future."

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