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CHPTA WANTS TO ESTABLISH A CODE OF CONDUCT FOR OUR INDUSTRY
from HHIQ Q3 2023
The Canadian Home Products Trade Association (CHPTA) has been monitoring the grocery industry as that channel works toward establishing a business “code of conduct” between grocery retailers and their suppliers. Now the CHPTA wants to implement a similar initiative for the hardlines industry.
According to CHPTA president Sam Moncada, his association’s goal is to leverage the final version of the grocery industry agreement and introduce a similar code of conduct for hardware, housewares, and home improvement products. “We’ve been talking and collaborating with grocery producers as they’ve worked for years and years on this, and they have a draft that they’ve shared with us,” says Moncada.
The grocery industry is looking to have its code of conduct implemented by the end of 2023, according to federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. Though grocery retailers have come to the table to work on this, delays have come from their inability to find a common ground, Moncada notes.
The need for such a code in the hardlines industry is underscored by the sheer size of the retailers and their ability to dictate terms—often changing them after a deal has been signed. Moncada cited a recent mandate from one retailer that added an approximately one percent back-end charge.
Manufacturers do understand that circumstances can change, says Moncada, but leaving the vendors out of the negotiations is counterproductive. “When a retailer arbitrarily changes the terms without consultation, it definitely hurts the manufacturers.”
The federal government received a draft of the grocery code last November, the result of more than a year of negotiations between industry groups representing farmers, food processors and suppliers, independent grocers, and national retail chains. They worked with a governmentappointed mediator. Using the grocery initiative as a template, says Moncada, “we want to invite all the players in the hardware and home products categories to the table to talk.”
