Source: European Parliament
The 2019 Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive sought to address imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agricultural products. The directive was primarily aimed at protecting farmers, as a weaker party, selling their products to big supermarkets and food processing companies. However, experience has shown that the directive does not always provide a sufficient legal basis for mutual assistance in cross-border investigations. The Commission’s proposal for a new regulation on cross-border cooperation among authorities responsible for the enforcement of the UTP Directive is part of EU efforts to improve farmers’ position in the agri food supply chain. It would enable cooperation between enforcement authorities in cases of unfair trading practices where suppliers and buyers are in different Member States. Farmer associations have welcomed the proposal but are calling for a more substantial revision of the directive, in particular a ban on buying agricultural products below production cost. Retailers meanwhile are highly critical, saying that the proposal risks fragmenting the single market.