Commission’s proposed measures on unfair trading practices

In April 2024, the European Commission unveiled its non-paper Position of farmers in the food supply chain: next steps. In this article, we explore the measures in the aforementioned non-paper related to unfair trading practices (UTPs).

Immediate measures

The Commission will create an EU agri-food chain Observatory (AFCO) to monitor production costs, margins, and trading practices in the agri-food supply chain. The call for applications to take part in this observatory has been published in the meantime.

In addition, the Commission published a report on implementation of the UTP directive across all Member States in April 2024. It states that the UTP directive is a recent instrument and its “enforcement is gaining traction”. The report does not seem to identify major problems with the implementation or the enforcement of the UTP directive. The Commission will also analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the UTP directive’s enforcement, particularly for cross-border issues.

Short-term measures

The Commission intends to strengthen Producer Organisations (POs) and reduce administrative burdens for their recognition, as well as support fair-trade voluntary schemes to improve farmers’ remuneration and define minimum characteristics for such schemes.

Moreover, the Commission intends to develop new rules for cross-border enforcement of UTPs which would entail enhanced cooperation between national enforcement authorities to address difficulties in cross-border cases.

Medium-long term measures

The Commission intends to launch the first evaluation of the UTP directive in May 2023, with findings to be reported by 2025.

For more information on fairness in the supply chain and IFOAM Organics Europe’s work on this issue, please visit our website or contact [email protected]. Do note that we prioritise our members’ requests.