Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue is reminding buyers of agricultural and food products that three months remain to meet their legal supply agreement obligations under new Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) rules.
Under these regulations, which the minister introduced last year, all supply agreements for agri-food products must be in full compliance with the provisions of the UTP regulations from April 28, 2022 – three months from today.
The minister said: “In exactly three months, all supply agreements for agricultural and food products are required to be in full compliance with the provisions of the UTP regulations.
“I am, therefore, calling on buyers across the agri-food supply chain to take time to fully understand the legal obligations placed upon them under these regulations and take appropriate action to ensure compliance.
“The UTP Enforcement Authority is available to assist buyers with any queries they may have to help them understand their obligations under the UTP regulations,” Minister McConalogue noted.
According to the minister, the Enforcement Authority has been provided with “significant powers” to investigate any complaint received.
“I strongly encourage suppliers to contact the authority if they feel they have been subjected to any of the unfair trading practices covered in the regulations,” he said.
“They can be absolutely assured that all contact with the authority will be handled in strict confidence.”
The UTP regulations aim to protect farmers, farmers’ organisations and other weaker suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain against stronger buyers by prohibiting 16 specific UTPs.
10 of these are prohibited in all circumstances and six are prohibited unless the parties agree clearly and unambiguously beforehand.
The minister went on to say: “The Programme for Government commits to the development of a National Food Ombudsman, and those who know me will also know that this has been a particular priority of mine.
“This is well advanced and I know that while it is not an office that can set price, it will be an office with real teeth and one that will help shine a light of transparency on the sector,” he concluded.
These UTPs are as follows:
- ‘Black’ UTPs (prohibited in all circumstances):
- Payment later than 30 days for perishable agricultural and food products;
- Payment later than 60 days for other agricultural and food products;
- Short-notice cancellations of perishable agricultural and food products;
- Unilateral contract changes by the buyer;
- Payment not related to a specific transaction;
- Risk of loss and deterioration transferred to the supplier;
- Refusal of written confirmation of a supply agreement by the buyer, despite request of the supplier;
- Misuse of trade secrets by the buyer;
- Commercial retaliation by the buyer;
- Transferring the costs of examining customer complaints to the supplier.
- ‘Grey’ UTPs (prohibited unless otherwise agreed by parties):
- The buyer returns unsold products to the supplier without paying for those unsold products;
- Payment by the supplier for stocking, display and listing;
- Payment by the supplier for promotion;
- Payment by the supplier for marketing;
- Payment by the supplier for advertising;
- Payment by the supplier for staff of the buyer and fitting out premises.