The Farmers' Union of Wales today described its 10-year campaign for legislation to ensure supermarkets provide a fair deal for all their suppliers, including farmers, as a step nearer after the UK Government accepted the need to set up a Supermarket Ombudsman.

"Of course we welcome the Consumer Minister's announcement today that he has accepted the Competition Commission's recommendation for a body to enforce the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP)," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.

The code will come into force on 4 February and will be quickly followed by a consultation on how best to enforce it, including who that body might be and the powers it could have.

"Meanwhile, we are also supporting Anglesey MP Albert Owen's Private Member's Bill, introduced in Parliament last month, which will provide the perfect opportunity to appoint a Supermarket Ombudsman," said Mr Vaughan.

"Mr Owen's Grocery Market Ombudsman Bill will enable the Government to implement the Competition Commission's recommendation for the creation of a new independent arbiter with the power to settle disputes between major retailers and their suppliers.

"The Bill has received wide cross-party support and was sponsored by MPs from Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the SDLP. It has also been warmly welcomed by the FUW and a number of significant charities, consumer organisations and business groups.

"The FUW has repeatedly expressed major concerns regarding the dominance of major retailers over supply chains and believes there is significant evidence to suggest that such dominance has in many cases been abused to the detriment of suppliers and local economies.

"We have, therefore, campaigned for an enforceable and robust supermarket Code of Conduct and the introduction of a supply chain ombudsman for the past decade and have, on numerous occasions, provided evidence supporting these calls to the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading.

"We welcomed last year's recommendations by the Competition Commission and believe that Mr Owen's Bill provides an ideal opportunity to take these forward. Therefore, we hope the cross-party support which already exists for the Bill will increase and ultimately result in an Act which addresses many of the concerns we have about unfair practices by supermarkets.

"Over the past three decades the proportion of food sold by supermarkets, rather than private outlets, has risen to around 75%, with the largest four supermarket chains controlling over 70% of sales. Competition Commission figures show that 65% of milk, 85% of beef, and 90% of lamb is sold through the multiple food retailers, with buying power being concentrated among a few companies.

"The power currently wielded by the major retailers represents a major challenge, not only for primary producers, but for the food sector in general.

"For this reason, the FUW has long argued that Government should take action to redress what is currently an imbalance between the powers held by primary producers, processors, and retailers, and that the first step towards doing this should be the appointment of a Supermarket Ombudsman responsible for enforcing a strict Code of Conduct."

An opportunity for Meirionnydd farmers to consider the future of their industry will be provided during the Farmers' Union of Wales' Meirionnydd county branch annual general meeting at the Ship Hotel, Dolgellau, on Friday 29 January at 7.30pm.

"We are fortunate this year to have the following speakers - Isabel Owen, head of the Caernarfon Divisional Office, Welsh Assembly Government; Sion Aron Jones, Hybu Cig Cymru industry development manager; and Emyr Williams, director of land management, Snowdonia National Park," said FUW's county executive officer Huw Jones.

"The theme for the meeting is 'Food, the environment and farm support - what is the future?'. This will be an opportunity, therefore, for us to consider the future direction of the industry.

"I will also be presenting a short report of the union's activities during 2009 at the start of the meeting. I am expecting a strong representation of members from all parts of the county."

The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has welcomed Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones's confirmation today that the Welsh Assembly Government intends to proceed with a badger cull to combat bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in Wales.

The decision to cull badgers in a limited Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) in west Wales, which has already received overwhelming cross-party support from members of the National Assembly for Wales during plenary votes, marks the final Ministerial decision regarding the matter - notwithstanding the outcome of a legal challenge by the Badger Trust.

Welcoming the decision, FUW bTB spokesman Brian Walters, a Carmarthenshire organic dairy producer, said: "This final Ministerial decision marks an important step towards reducing bTB incidences in an area that has one of the highest rates of the disease in Europe.

"The work undertaken and commissioned by the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer shows that this decision is the right one, and the only one likely to result in significant falls in bTB incidences in an areas where badgers have been shown to have high levels of infection.

"It is supported by the science, and has therefore received the support of the Welsh Assembly Government and the overwhelming majority of Assembly Members from all political parties. However, it should not be forgotten that it is just one part of a host of measures being undertaken to combat bTB in Wales."

Mr Walters also expressed his concern that a legal challenge by the Badger Trust should not derail the Welsh bTB Eradication Programme. "It has taken a great deal of work to get to this position, but as time marches on the epidemic continues to grow.

"While the Badger Trust's legal challenge is disappointing, it comes as no surprise. However, it should not be allowed to derail the progress made to date, as a lengthy and drawn out court case would see the epidemic continue to escalate."

Mr Walters also hit out at misleading and inflammatory claims by animal rights organisation aimed at misleading public opinion. He said: "There seems to be no end to the unfounded and misleading statements being issued, by many of those who oppose the cull, which fly in the face of conclusive scientific evidence gathered over almost four decades.

"In areas where the disease is endemic in the badger population experience has shown that no amount of cattle controls will help without parallel moves to significantly reduce transmission from badgers.

"The Royal Society, the world's oldest and most respected science academy, has published work indicating that cattle movements are likely to be responsible for just 16 per cent of bTB herd outbreaks, and that 'High-risk spread is probably the result of cattle-badger-BTB interaction', and the English badger culling trials have succeeded in slashing bTB incidences by more than a half.

"There is no doubt that badgers are the major obstacle to controlling the spread of bTB to cattle and that badger culling works. Any talk about farming practices being a significant factor are unfounded and have been shown to be such following numerous initiatives aimed at cattle alone.

"The bottom line is that badgers and cattle share the same fields, yet we have been culling tens of thousands of cattle while ignoring the wildlife reservoir.

"It is also completely wrong to talk about the eradication of badgers - the aim is one that should be supported by all parties, namely to have healthy badgers and healthy cattle living alongside each other."

Today's announcement that an Anglesey meat plant plans to axe nearly half its workforce was described as a highly disappointing development by a Welsh farmers' leader who also expressed relief that the lamb slaughtering facility at the plant would remain operational.

"The loss of more than 200 jobs at Vion UK's Welsh Country Foods plant would be a serious blow for the island's economy and beyond, especially for the livelihoods of the workers and their families involved, but we are heartened that they will keep the slaughtering facility open," said Aeron Prysor Jones, chairman of the Farmers' Union of Wales livestock committee.

"We understand the Dutch-owned company plans to close the meat cutting operation at Gaerwen and transfer the retail packaging and distribution work to their plant at Winsford in Cheshire. We hope the economic climate will improve sufficiently for the Anglesey plant to return to a higher level of operation in the not too distant future."

WELSH Liberal Democrats leader Kirsty Williams called for increased government support for Welsh farmers when she addressed the Farmers' Union of Wales' Carmarthenshire county executive committee recently.

"In order to ensure a healthy economy, population and environment we must better promote and support our Welsh farming industry," the Brecon and Radnorshire AM told union members.

"With six out of every seven British hill farmers having no identified successor we must turn farming into a profitable and thriving industry, and make sure that this way of life does not die out with this generation.

"To secure the future of rural Wales we must ensure that our farmers and consumers get an honest and fair deal," said Ms Williams. "The promotion of food quality, more local procurement, furthering biodiversity and fair prices are the best kind of medicine for a healthier Wales.

"In difficult times such as this economic recovery starts at home, so consumers should be proud to 'Buy Welsh' and 'Buy Local'. Welsh farmers have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and supermarkets should pay fair prices for the high quality product they produce.

"Farmers don't want to be given subsidies, what they want is to receive a fair payment for their hard work. Supermarket greed is forcing farmers out of business.

"Whilst world food demand is set to double over the next 40 years we stand by helpless as we lose the capacity to produce it.

"Alongside international fair trade products we need to see Fair Trade for our Welsh farmers," Ms Williams said. "We need a legally binding supermarket code, enforced by an independent Food Market Regulator to enforce fair trade for farmers and to help this industry prosper as it should.

"This is especially crucial for the dairy sector that is under so much pressure at the present time. We need the Government to take action now to secure production in the Welsh milk field."

Ms Williams added that, like the FUW, she had grave concerns over the proposed implementation timescale of the new Welsh Assembly Government's Glastir scheme. "To date the details and consequences of this new scheme have not be fully worked out or tested.

"The Agriculture Minister must be prepared to listen to the concerns of the industry and delay implementation until there is clarity around the scheme that allows for individual farm business to plan for their future.

"In recent months we have seen much comment about the damaging effects of the methane from livestock on climate change. However, new pioneering work demonstrates that proper grassland management can be crucial in capturing carbon and thus Welsh farmers are well placed to play a key role in the Government's plans to address climate change."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed the Tories plan - revealed at the Oxford Farming Conference - to appoint a supermarket ombudsman but described the move as long overdue.

"As far back as the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak even Prime Minister Tony Blair was saying supermarkets had farmers in an 'arm-lock' and wielded too much power," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.

"At the time the FUW welcomed his comments, too, but made the point that despite his rhetoric he had failed to take practical action to assist farmers and other suppliers."

Since then the FUW has repeatedly called for a supermarket ombudsman and, in April 2008, described the Competition Commission's bid to create an independent Ombudsman to enforce a strengthened Groceries Supply Code of Practice as a major step forward in efforts to curb the dominance of the large supermarket chains.

"But, regrettably, there is still no such ombudsman in place even though we had been pressing for a fresh investigation into the practices employed by the large supermarket companies long before the Office of Fair Trading asked the Competition Commission to investigate the issue in 2006," added Mr Vaughan.

"The Commission fully endorsed our campaign which followed bitter complaints from farmers and other suppliers over many years that their prices were being forced down to satisfy the demands of these companies to make even bigger profits for their shareholders.

"We were heartened when Wales' Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones expressed her support in December 2007 for an Ombudsman to regulate supermarkets and called for the existing voluntary Code of Conduct to be updated and strengthened.

"The FUW still maintains an independent Ombudsman, coupled with compliance officers employed by supermarkets to oversee the implementation of the new code, will be a major step forward in ensuring supermarkets provide a fair deal for all suppliers, including farmers."

During the Oxford Farming Conference shadow environment spokesman Nick Herbert said the voluntary code of practice governing the relationship between supermarkets and food suppliers is not "worth the paper it is written on" unless properly enforced.

"It is not enough to talk loosely about a fair market or the need for better labelling. We need action, with a supermarket ombudsman and legislation to enforce honest labelling if the retailers won't act."