Slovak presidency focuses on unfair trading practices

Farmer organisations across Europe have for some time been calling for legislation to curb the power of the buyers along the chain in processing and retail.

Predictably it has been rejected, with the director general of EuroCommerce writing to the Slovak farm minister and current council chair last week, saying: “Presenting regulation of trading practices and other aspects of the supply chain at EU level as the remedy to farmers’ problems is simply misleading.”

He puts the current problems down to what he calls “short-term structural market issues”, saying that no legislation can make that structural challenge go away.

With 20 of the EU member countries having some sort of legislation on unfair trading, there is a growing mood in the commission following the issue being focal point of the Slovak-chaired council of ministers meeting today and continuing on Wednesday.

Speaking at a pre-council dinner on Monday evening, EU Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan sounded open minded about the idea of legislating, saying he would listen very carefully to the “views and experience in respect of the presidency’s question on the utility of a common framework on unfair trading practices”.

He also referenced the market transparency issue, noting: “We have a reasonably good understanding of farm-gate prices. However, less information is available concerning the subsequent stages in the supply chain. There are arguments that this is a deficiency which should be addressed by regulatory action.”

He also mentioned the work of the task force he appointed to look at the place of the farmer in the food chain, though he concluded with a note of caution, saying: “Measures such as the ones we may have in mind can improve the situation to a degree but not turn the basic laws of supply and demand on their head.”

Driven by the Slovak presidency and with the EU agriculture commissioner open minded, it is clear there is momentum gathering for some sort of legislation on unfair trading practices. President Juncker in his state of the union address to the EU Parliament on Wednesday morning committed the Commission to “always stand by our farmers” and would not accept milk is cheaper than water.