FOI release

Request for information on enforcement of the Groceries Code

Published 12 November 2025

7th Floor, The Cabot
25 Cabot Square
London E14 4QZ
T: +44 (0)20 7215 6537
E: Enquiries@GroceriesCode.gov.uk
www.gov.uk/gca

Sent by email

3 November 2025

Freedom of Information Act: Request for information on Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) activities

Thank you for your email of 7 October 2025 regarding the work of the GCA. You asked for the following information:

1. Investigation reports and evidence from the 2025 Amazon probe on payment delays.

2. Supplier survey data and analyses of breach patterns (e.g., de-listing, retrospective changes).

3. Internal assessments of enforcement effectiveness and reasons for no fines.

4. Evaluations of risks to competition or consumer harms from retailer abuses.

General right of access to information held by public authorities

Under section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“the FOIA”), anyone making a request for information to the GCA, as a public authority, is entitled to be informed in writing whether it holds that information, and if so, to be supplied with it.

The GCA holds some of the information that you have requested. Adopting your numbering for ease of reference, I have responded to your requests below.

(1) The GCA does not hold reports from the investigation into Amazon.com, Inc. On 20 June 2025, the GCA launched an investigation into whether Amazon has delayed payments to its Groceries suppliers in breach of Paragraph 5 of the Groceries Code. As the investigation remains ongoing, the GCA has not yet produced a report.

The GCA does hold evidence from the investigation into Amazon.

Section 44(1)(a) of the FOIA provides that information is exempt if disclosure by the public authority holding it is prohibited by or under any enactment. Section 18(2) of the Groceries Code Adjudicator Act 2013 (“the GCA Act”) prevents the GCA from making an unauthorised disclosure of information that the Adjudicator thinks might cause someone to think that a particular person has complained about a large retailer failing to comply with the Groceries Code. The Adjudicator thinks that releasing evidence from the investigation might cause someone to think a particular person has complained about a large retailer failing to comply with the Groceries Code. None of the exceptions set out in section 18 of the GCA Act apply.

As disclosure of the information you have requested is prohibited by section 18(2) of the GCA Act 2013, section 44(1)(a) of the FOIA applies in this case and the information requested is exempt from disclosure. This is an absolute exemption and there is, therefore, no requirement to consider the public interest.

(2) The GCA holds supplier survey data and analyses of breach patterns.

Section 22A of the FOIA provides that information obtained from a programme of research is exempt from disclosure, as long as:

• The programme is still underway. This condition is met. The GCA survey and analysis are an ongoing programme of research into supplier perceptions of compliance with the Groceries Code by the large retailers.
• There is an intention to publish a report of the research. This condition is met. The GCA publishes a report of principal supplier survey findings and intends to publish a report in 2026 and thereafter. You can find the most recent report on the GCA website.
• Disclosure of the information would or would be likely to prejudice the research programme, the interests of participants in the programme, or a public authority. This condition is met. Disclosing the undisclosed information that you request would be likely to prejudice the programme, the GCA’s interests, and the interests of individuals participating in the programme.

Public interest test

Exemptions under section 22A are subject to the public interest test.

Public interest favours disclosure

There is a public interest in the disclosure of information, including promoting transparency about patterns of noncompliance by the large retailers and about the GCA’s analytical work. There is also a general public interest in enabling external scrutiny of public sector research methods.

Public interest favours withholding

There is a public interest in maintaining the section 22A exemption to avoid the likely prejudice of the programme, the GCA’s interests, and the interests of individuals participating in the programme.

Release of the requested information would be likely to:

• Prejudice the programme by making public sensitive methodological and other information that could compromise the reliability of future surveys. The likely negative impact on the quality of the programme’s findings would result in a paucity of information about perceptions of the large retailers’ compliance with the law that would be contrary to the public interest.
• Prejudice the interests of the GCA by likely depriving it of robust information necessary to inform its proper regulation of the activities of the large retailers. This would likely weaken the GCA’s ability to achieve its statutory purpose, which would be contrary to the public interest.
• Prejudice the interests of individuals participating in the programme, by likely creating concern about the information that they have provided in confidence, inhibiting candid future participation and reducing suppliers’ ability to assert their right to the protections offered by the Code. These outcomes would be contrary to the public interest.

Having carefully considered the arguments above, the GCA is withholding the information that you have requested having concluded that the public interest would not be served by its release.

(3) The GCA holds the requested information.

Section 21(1) of the FOI Act provides that information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant otherwise than under section 1 is exempt information. This is an absolute exemption and there is, therefore, no requirement to consider the public interest.

The information that you have requested on enforcement effectiveness is available in the reports of the research programme to which I refer in response to your second request above. You may wish to consider the GCA’s use of the findings of the research programme in consideration of enforcement effectiveness in, for example, its submission to the ongoing statutory review by the Department of Business & Trade of the GCA’s effectiveness.

The information that you have requested regarding the use of financial penalties is in paragraph 58 of the report of the GCA’s investigation into Co-operative Group Limited. This is the only investigation to have been completed by the GCA since the Groceries Code Adjudicator (Permitted Maximum Financial Penalty) Order 2015 came into force on 6 April 2015.

(4)The GCA does not hold the requested information.

The GCA’s statutory remit is to enforce the Groceries Code and to encourage compliance with it. The Code was introduced following the Competition Commission’s finding that some large retailers’ transfer of excessive risk and unexpected costs to their suppliers and deciding that there were adverse effects on competition. The GCA does not itself evaluate risks to competition or consumer harms arising from noncompliance with the Groceries Code.

Appeals Procedure

If you wish to complain about the way in which your request for information has been handled, you may seek an internal review by writing, setting out the reasons you feel your request has not been dealt with effectively, to:

The FOI Review Co-ordinator
Groceries Code Adjudicator
7th Floor, 25 Cabot Square
London
E14 4QZ

Alternatively, you can email: enquiries@groceriescode.gov.uk.

We will aim to deal with your Internal Review request within 20 working days of receipt or, if that is not possible, advise you of a date when we expect to complete the review.

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can do this on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.