The Irish Beef and Lamb Association (IBLA) has raised concerns relating to meat processors with the Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Enforcement Authority.
The body was established under the UTP regulations by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue to deal with complaints of unfair trading practices.
It will be a part of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) until the primary legislation for the new Office of National Food Ombudsman is finalised.
IBLA letter
The IBLA, which has previously met with the authority, has written a letter outlining several concerns relating to meat processors.
In the correspondence seen by Agriland, the IBLA chair Patrick Rooney asked if the authority had reviewed the Irish Beef Sector Agreement, which was signed by farming groups and the meat industry in 2019.
As part of the agreement, the meat industry committed to provide lairage weighing services and written confirmation of the terms of sale of animals, where requested.
The authority previously told IBLA that it may not have the power to make these issues mandatory.
IBLA has now asked the body if it can confirm that processors have put the necessary mechanisms in place to provide these options if requested by primary producers. If this has not been done, IBLA requested that the authority launches an investigation.
“We consider the absence of such processes to be a breach of the Beef Sector Agreement 2019, more specifically Black UTP 4 – ‘A buyer unilaterally changing the terms of an agreement’ – as no agreement has been made to amend this agreement,” Rooney outlined.
The letter calls for an investigation into the availability of written quotes from processors which it said are “the very infrequent exception relative to the number of sales transactions that occur”.
IBLA claimed that primary producers are afraid to ask for written quotes given the position they find themselves in relative to processors.
The letter seeks the authority’s views on factory agents and if this role needs to be regulated to ensure compliance with UTP standards.
IBLA also asked the body to examine the post mortem contingency deduction applied by meat plants.