Memorandum of Understanding

for supermarket companies and other organisations working with Race to the Top

This Memorandum of Understanding identifies which supermarket companies and other organisations are working with the Race to the Top project. By signing it, each company/organisation demonstrates a commitment to the objectives and spirit of constructive engagement of the project. It sets out what these organisations can expect from other participating organisations, and what is expected of them. It is not intended to create legally binding commitments.

The objective of the Race to the Top project is to allow constructive dialogue involving the UK supermarket sector and its stakeholders, in order to:

• gather data concerning supermarkets' commitment to and performance on a wide range of social, ethical and environmental issues, both directly from participating supermarket companies and from other sources;
• benchmark and compare the supermarkets' performance and progress on these issues, in order to provide rigorous data;
• publish the results of the benchmarking process in a balanced way in order to contribute to the debate on the evolving agri-food system and supermarkets' role in it, emphasising cases of good practice rather than taking a negative campaign-oriented approach; insodoing to
• create greater incentives for UK supermarkets to be more proactive in terms of their social, environmental and ethical performance; and
• highlight the key issues for retailers, consumers, public policy makers and investors

For supermarket companies

By agreeing to work with the Race to the Top project, and to be associated with the project as such, the company agrees to:

• its name (and where appropriate, logo) being included on project documents and the Race to the Top website, accompanied by the following disclaimer:
  "The following companies and organisations are working with the Race to the Top project but any views or opinions published by the project do not necessarily reflect the policies of these companies and organisations, individually or collectively";
• being identified to the media and other organisations as a retailer which is "working with" the Race to the Top project;
• work constructively with Race to the Top and its contributing organisations to develop appropriate and workable indicators during the first year of the project (2002);
• provide comments on draft questionnaires and other data collection methodologies as appropriate, and participate in project workshops for this purpose;
• collect and provide data within agreed deadlines for the first year baseline data collection process, primarily through responding to the Race to the Top retailer questionnaire;
• respect the long-term nature of the Race to the Top project, and help to ensure its success by agreeing in principle to continue to work with the project as it progresses;
• respect confidentiality where this is requested; and
• respect the spirit of constructive engagement on which Race to the Top is based.
  

In return, the company is entitled to:

• appropriate acknowledgement in all publications and other outputs to which it has contributed;
• the opportunity to have good practice case studies and other information included as appropriate in Race to the Top outputs including the Race to the Top website;
• use published Race to the Top results and outputs in its own publications;
• state that it is "working with" the Race to the Top project;
• the opportunity to have its point of view in relation to project outputs made publicly available, primarily on the Race to the Top website;
• its confidentiality being respected by other organisations involved in the project; and
• dissociate itself from any Race to the Top output or publication if it considers that the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding have been breached.

For other contributing organisations

By agreeing to contribute to the Race to the Top project, and to be associated with the project as such, the contributing organisation agrees to:

• its name and logo being included on project documents, accompanied by the following disclaimer:
  "The following companies and organisations contribute to the work of the Race to the Top project but any views or opinions published by the project do not necessarily reflect the policies of these companies and organisations, individually or collectively";
• be consulted by IIED or module coordinators about the content of the indicators, data collection methods and related issues;
• provide background material for publications and media highlighting the issues concerned and presenting good practice case studies and guidelines;
• assist with dissemination of the results through its own channels including relevant publications and media work, in discussion with IIED and other contributing organisations as appropriate;
• respect confidentiality where this is requested, noting in particular the agreement not to publish the results of the 2002 data collection and benchmarking process; and
• respect the spirit of constructive engagement on which Race to the Top is based.

In return, the contributing organisation is entitled to:

• funding on an ad hoc basis for particular tasks as agreed with IIED, although on the whole contributions are expected to be in kind unless there is a specific agreement otherwise, for example for module coordinators;
• appropriate acknowledgement in all publications and other outputs to which it has contributed;
• the opportunity to have its material published and its work highlighted as appropriate in Race to the Top outputs;
• the right to use published Race to the Top results and outputs in its own publications;
• its confidentiality being respected by other organisations involved in the project; and
• the right to dissociate itself from any Race to the Top output or publication if it considers that the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding have been breached.