The incoming government – whichever parties are involved – will be called on to copy laws from France and Spain on the below-cost retailing of food.

Pat McCormack, the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), is calling on any incoming government to “catch the tide of opinion and fairness” and make illegal retail practices that result in farmers selling their produce at a loss.

McCormack cited the example of Spain, which, a number of days ago, introduced a law that has prohibited the sale of vegetables, fruit and meat products at retail prices below the costs of production.

McCormack quoted the Spanish minister for agriculture, who said there was “a clear imbalance in the food production chain…the (Spanish) government’s aim is to restore balance between all the links and to ensure a transparent price system”.

“This is exactly the same imbalance that farmers in Ireland and all over the EU have been fighting now for decades, and how badly we need to hear and an Irish government minister articulate it as frankly as the Spanish minister did,” said McCormack.

He added: “Even more so, how badly we need to see really effective legislation introduced that bans retailing food at below-cost prices and genuinely attempts to re-balance the margins and profits in the food production chain.”

The ICMSA president added that both Spain and France have “realised that relaying on good wishes and a sense of fairness on the part of multi-national retail corporations is an exercise in futility and wishful-thinking”.

What’s needed is legislation with real teeth and real penalties; France and Spain have now led the way. Ireland must see that this is the only option that will give the primary-producers a fair price and also wean both the retail corporations and the consumers off the incredibly destructive ‘cheap food’ drug.

“What these states have seen is that for reasons of both economic justice and environmental necessity, we must begin to end the practice of selling high-quality food below the cost of production,” McCormack argued.

He concluded his remarks by saying: “The tide of governmental opinion is turning against the retail corporations and their complete control of Europe’s food production chain and Ireland needs to catch that tide and introduce legislation immediately banning below-cost selling.”