The announcement coincides with the launch of its 'Paying on time is good for businesses' leaflet campaign and the companies signed up to the code include Barclays, Motorola, Sony, Sky, Centrica, BA and B&Q.
The code mandates that signees not only pay on time, but are clear about the payment procedure and that contractual terms with lead suppliers include a requirement to ensure that the code is adopted throughout their own supply chains.
Business Minister Shriti Vadera said: "Late payment can be the final straw for small business in the current climate. So the commitment here today by major companies heading up supply chains to pay on time is a win for all businesses."
BAPC chairman Sidney Bobb said that "the government is getting better at paying on time", but that "there are still problems collecting money from debtors". He said that a frequent problem is debtors offering more work to printers in lieu of prompt payment.
"Every company that trades in the UK should have a payment terms policy where they state clearly whether they pay on 60, 90 days or whatever. Then people would know where they stand," he said.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "Government has taken the lead with nine out of ten central Government invoices now being paid within ten days - the challenge is now for business to step up and play fair.
"The promise by FTSE companies to pay on time is very welcome and will hopefully bring an end to the devastating impact which late payments can have on small business."
The government also announced a range of other businesses that have signed up in principal to the code.
Mandelson said he would write to each FTSE company that failed to attend the Summit, challenging them to sign up to the Code.
Agreed to sign
Barclays
Motorola
Standard Chartered
Sony
Sky
Centrica
British AirwaysImperial Tobacco
B&Q
Research in Motion (BlackBerry)
Committed in principle
Cisco
BAT
Yahoo
HSBC
Sainsbury
Alliance Boots
RSA Insurance Group
Cobham
WPP Group
AMEC
Lloyds Banking Group
National Grid
Royal Dutch Shell
Tesco
Asda
