With or without borders, unfair trading practices are unfair

Today, the Council presidency and European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional agreement on cross-borders unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain. 

Thanks to the agreed text, cooperation among national authorities responsible for the enforcement of the EU ban on unfair trading practices will be strengthened. This ensures that cross-border unfair trading practices affecting farmers and small producers of agricultural products by large buyers — including retail chains and their alliances — are effectively prevented, investigated, and sanctioned.

Farm Europe welcomes the work of Commissioner Hansen alongside rapporteur Stefano Bonaccini as well as the Danish Presidency on this long awaited improvement of the internal market. This agreement will help improve farmers’ position in the agrifood supply chain and to enhance transnational cooperation in case suppliers and buyers are in different Member States. It will be an important milestone, to be completed through the upcoming broader revision of the Directive on UTPs. 

Concretely, the provisional agreement supports the following objectives: 

• Introduction of a mutual assistance mechanism, enabling national authorities to exchange information, collaborate on investigations, and coordinate enforcement actions. 
• Establishment of rules on cost-sharing, data protection, and confidentiality to ensure suppliers are protected from retaliation. 
• Setting up of a mechanism for coordinated action in large-scale cross-border cases involving at least three EU countries, with one member state designated to lead the response. 
• Initiation of  cooperation with non-EU buyers, aiming to better protect European farmers from unfair trading practices originating outside the EU.

The provisional agreement must now be confirmed by the Council and the European Parliament before the legislative act is formally adopted by the co-legislators.