Legislation on food supply chain ‘a blow to unfair practices’ says MEP

EUROPEAN intentions to introduce legislation for the food supply chain have been hailed as a step in the right direction.

Ireland East Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness has welcomed EU Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship, Antonio Tajani’s statement that the Commission reserves the right to legislate for problems in the food supply chain if talks between stakeholders fail to yield results.

Ms McGuinness hailed Mr Tajani’s comments in the EU Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday as a blow to “unfair and unethical practices”.

Ms McGuinness said: “There is a real danger that the food supply chain could experience a collapse similar to the financial sector if we do not acknowledge and address these very real and serious problems.

“A sustainable farm and food sector is vital for EU citizens. To secure it everyone in the chain must get a fair return and no sector should be allowed to exercise undue power over others, forcing them into a position of accepting terms and conditions that are unsustainable, unviable.”

She said it marked the first acknowledgement that “something is rotten in the marketplace”.

She added: “To date that action is focused on gentlemen’s agreement between stakeholders. If and when we discover that there are no gentlemen and that agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, then regulation will be necessary,” she said.