After a positive signal from EU Farm Ministers this week, Copa & Cogeca urged the EU Commission today to introduce EU legislation on Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) to improve farmers position in the food chain food supply chain and to step up on competitiveness.
At the High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain, Copa representative and President of the National Farmers Union of England and Wales Meurig Raymond said “Unfair trading practices impact negatively on farmers who are at the bottom of the supply chain, being squeezed by some operators in the retail sector. They are price takers who have no one to fall back on, causing severe cash flow problems for many of them. Purely voluntary schemes to curb UTPs, such as we had in the UK, did not work and we ended up with legislation and an adjudicator to solve the problem. A common legislative framework to curb UTPs was also called for by EU Farm Ministers at their meeting this week. We need EU solutions for EU problems. A well-functioning and non-fragmented Single Market must be the main priority if we want to improve the competitiveness of the food supply chain”.
Cogeca representative Martin Pycha and President of the Czech Republic Cooperative Organisation went on to urge the Commission to rapidly start the preparatory work for such EU legislation. “We have seen many examples across the EU where voluntary schemes to tackle UTPs did not work. Time has come for action. We already have a resolution from MEPs this year as well as recommendations from the EU Agricultural Markets Task Force calling for EU legislation to combat UTPs. An EU wide legislative approach will also contribute to prevent a fragmentation of the internal market and lead to a level playing field”.
“Cooperatives can also help to improve farmers positioning in the food chain by helping them to market and get a better price for their produce”, he added.
“In addition, trade is important to ensure a viable and competitive agri-food chain. It is important to find new outlets for our produce and to ensure that trade deals are balanced and fair”, he concluded.
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