Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has announced that Cabinet has today (Tuesday, November 29) approved the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022.
The bill, when enacted, will establish a new independent statutory authority which will be known as An Rialtóir Agraibhia (The Agri-Food Regulator).
Minister McConalogue said: “I am delighted to have received government approval today for the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill. This fulfils a Programme for Government commitment to ensure fairness, equity and transparency in the food chain by establishing a new authority.
“The Agri-Food Regulator will be [an] office with real teeth that will be a strong advocate for farmers, fishers and all producers.
“It will shine a light on the sector to help improve the position of the primary producer and it will also bring greater transparency and fairness,” the minister added.
McConalogue added that the regulator will promote and enforce the principles of fairness and transparency for agri-food suppliers.
Functions of Agri-Food Regulator
The new Agri-Food Regulator will implement a number of key functions:
- A price and market analysis and reporting function, bringing greater transparency to the agricultural and food supply chain by carrying out analysis and regularly publishing reports on price and market data;
- Enhancing understanding and enforcement of agri-food unfair trading law, including being designated as the national enforcement authority for the Unfair Trading Practices Directive;
- The regulator will have the powers to: Investigate suspected breaches; promote alternative dispute resolution procedures between suppliers and buyers; bring proceedings for offences under this bill; refer cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) where the regulator believes an indictable offences has been committed;
- Promoting public awareness about agri-food unfair trading law and related matters including through public information campaigns.
The legislation provides for the imposition of fines concerning non-compliance with the rules of up to a maximum of €10 million or 10% of aggregate turnover, whichever is greater.
Minister McConalogue continued: “Many of the recommendations of the pre-legislative scrutiny report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, are provided for in this bill.
“I am pleased that I can now present the bill before the Dáil and move to the next stage of the legislative process. It is my intention to have An Rialtóir Agraibhia up and running as soon as possible.
“Today is a good day for the food producers of Ireland as they know we are a step closer to the establishment of the Agri-Food Regulator,” the minister concluded.