Legal: how to make a complaint to the Agri-Food Regulator

Question: I read recently that the Agri-Food Regulator helped a farmer to get paid for cattle owed by a factory. I was disgusted with the poor prices I got for two cows I brought to a factory a couple of weeks ago. I brought my cows over on Monday and they weren’t killed until the following day. I only got €1,000 for the two of them.

I’m not sure where to start and want to know if the regulator could help in my case? Would it take long? Would I have to get a solicitor? And how do I make a complaint?

Answer: At Ennis District Court, Judge Alec Gabbett convicted Shannon-based Asba Meats Ltd over the non-payment of €10,059 for cattle delivered to the slaughter plant by a west of Ireland farmer. The civil case was brought by the Agri-Food Regulator following a complaint by the farmer. The regulator first visited the Asba Meats plant in October 2022 to try and resolve the issue.

However, it was only resolved the day before the court case on 14 November 2024 when Asba Meats paid the farmer the balance outstanding of €5,000. On the day of the court hearing, Asba Meats were convicted and fined €1,000 and also had to pay the Agri-Food Regulator’s legal costs.

What is the Agri-Food Regulator?

The Agri-Food Regulator was established as a new independent state agency on 13 December 2023. It aims to protect those suppliers which, due to a weak bargaining position relative to the buyer of their product, need such protection. ‘Suppliers’ include farmers and their organisations (for example, co-operatives, representative and producer groups), nurseries and others.

The regulations offer protection along the agri-food supply chain, depending on the relative size of the operator. Thus, any supplier of agriculture or food products is protected under the regulations where their annual turnover is lower than the buyer’s turnover, once the buyer’s annual turnover is greater than €2m. The regulations do not provide for arrangements between suppliers and consumers.

How to make a complaint

The regulator will examine your complaint to assess whether a breach of the Unfair Trading Practice (UTP) rules may have occurred. If there is sufficient evidence, the regulator will initiate an investigation, subject to any request for confidentiality that may have been indicated. You will be kept informed about the status as well as the progress and outcome of your complaint.

You do not have to have a written agreement as the absence of a written supply agreement is a feature of normal business practice in some sectors. However, you can ask your buyer to confirm the content of an oral supply agreement in writing.

Complaints are lodged through an online complaint submission form, which is fairly basic. You do not need to engage a solicitor. The form asks you to provide your details and those of the supplier/buyer.

You also need to include the annual turnover of the supplier but have an option of saying you do not know. The form asks you to indicate the prohibited unfair trading practice/s alleged to have been breached, all 10 of which are prohibited in all circumstances. These include:

1. Payment later than 30 days for perishable agricultural and food products.

2. Payment later than 60 days for other agricultural and food products.

3. Short-notice cancellations of perishable agricultural and food products.

4. Unilateral contract changes by the buyer.

5. Payment not related to a specific transaction.

6. Risk of loss and deterioration transferred to the supplier.

7. Refusal of written confirmation of a supply agreement by the buyer, despite request of the supplier.

8. Misuse of trade secrets by the buyer.

9. Commercial retaliation by the buyer.

10. Transferring the costs of examining customer complaints to the supplier.

Consequently, you should have a right of complaint under item six, possible risk of loss and deterioration transferred to the supplier by animals not having been killed on the same day.

You possibly also have grounds for complaint under item two if you have not been paid in full promptly, and item seven if the buyer refuses to give you details of live weights, kill weights and prices.

Following receipt of the complaint, the Agri-Food Regulator will consider the information received and will be back in touch within a reasonable period of time indicating how they intend to follow up on the complaint. They would normally put pressure on the factory to settle any claim so it should be dealt with promptly.

The information in this article is intended as a guide only. While every care is taken to ensure accuracy of information contained in this article, Aisling Meehan, Agricultural Solicitors and Tax Consultants does not accept responsibility for errors or omissions howsoever arising. Email aisling@agrisolicitors.ie