Supermarket giant Woolworths has called for the Grocery Code of Conduct to apply to global retail players like Amazon and Costo, pointing to their global revenues that are “many times the size of Australian supermarkets”.

The comments come in response to the interim report of the Review of the Grocery Code of Conduct, published yesterday by Independent Reviewer, Dr Craig Emerson.

The report makes 8 recommendations, including that the Code be made mandatory, with penalties of $10 million or more for serious breaches. The mandatory code would be enforced by the competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

“Woolworths is a foundation signatory to the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, and we support it becoming mandatory for all large retailers and wholesalers of groceries to engender public trust and to level the playing field for retailers and wholesalers alike,” said a spokesperson for Woolworths.

In addition to global retailers, Woolworths said that local retailers who compete in grocery categories for household products and personal care, such as Bunnings and Chemist Warehouse, should also be subject to the code.

The interim report also recommends that suppliers are better protected against possible retribution from supermarkets, with a new mechanism for making confidential complaints.

Woolworths said it supported the retention of avenues for dispute resolution “for the benefit of suppliers”, noting that the informal complaints mechanism had already “seen an increase in contact between the Woolworths Independent Code Arbiter and suppliers”.

“This means issues can be promptly surfaced, investigated and addressed, while minimising any concern on the part of suppliers that their commercial relationships may be impacted,” said a Woolworths spokesperson.

“In addition, we have published our Trade Partner Integrity Policy which makes clear Woolworths will not tolerate any reprisal against a Trade Partner for making a complaint under the Grocery Code. This is closely monitored by Woolworths Supermarkets senior management.”

Woolworths said that the protections were best directed at smaller suppliers. “Our largest suppliers are sophisticated global companies, many times larger than Woolworths, and many of which supply "must stock" brands and products.”

The supermarket said it has established a dedicated team to support small suppliers, acknowledging that small and local suppliers may find dealing with a large retailer “daunting”.

Emerson said making the code mandatory was essential to deal with the heavy imbalance in market power between the major players – Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, and Metcash – and their smaller suppliers.

“The voluntary Code of Conduct has no penalties, leaving the competition watchdog chained up on the back porch.”