The Best Practice Module series for Management of Supermarket Operations will be made available to all supermarket chains and the public.

ICAC acting assistant director of corruption prevention Mok Wah-hoi said while the anti-graft organization had not recently dealt with any serious complaint in which consumer rights have been damaged, the main idea behind the guidelines was prevention.

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"Eventually, bribery will add to the cost of a supermarket's operations and will, indirectly, increase the price of products or decrease its quality, and this will ultimately affect the consumers," Mok said.

In 2005 and 2006 the ICAC received about 20 complaints concerning supermarkets, store chains and department stores. In the first 11 months of this year, there have been about 10 complaints, fewer than 1 percent of the bribery reports in the private sector.

The allegations include illegal commissions for the purchase of certain products, unfair bidding and the disposal of food without following proper procedures.

The ICAC said the huge turnovers of supermarkets provide the incentive for bribery.

"The bribe might be just a few cents for a loaf of bread, but when you take into consideration the large turnover per day and multiply this into weeks and months, it could amount to a lot of money," Mok said.

In a recent bribery case, involving supermarket staff at the middle management level, the accused were jailed for five to 39 months.

Last December, a regional manager of a supermarket chain was convicted on three counts of accepting advantages from a meat supplier, such as free entertainment in nightclubs and free travel to Macau. He was sentenced to five months in jail.

In another case in February, a merchant was sentenced to five months' jail for offering a supermarket regional manager a commission of 5 percent on Chinese sausages ordered from his company.

Consumer Council chief executive Connie Lau Yiu-hing said the Module was intended to prevent bribery in the industry.

In addition to keeping a close eye on products, the council is also advising supermarket management to enhance protective measures with regard to the stealing of information and personal data from the credit cards of customers.

Mok said some chain supermarkets had already enhanced their governance and internal controls, but the module would also assist small and medium size supermarkets and other retail store chains to increase their management skills.

The public and interested parties can also download the module from the ICAC website, www.icac.org.hk.