Agri group wants consumer commission to have real teeth
That is according to Agri Aware, the agri-food educational body, which has welcomed the consumer bill introduced by Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton, but wants the retail watchdog to have real powers to punish competition offences such as cartels and price-fixing.
Bernard Donohue, the group’s chairman, said: “It is crystal clear from Agri Aware’s recent consumer omnipoll that the public want retailers to pay a fair price to farmers for the quality food that they produce; this new body must take the consumer’s wishes onboard to ensure the farmer is treated fairly by retailers.
“We are happy to hear Minister Richard Bruton saying that he is introducing strong regulations and powerful new investigation and enforcement powers to ensure fairness between suppliers and retailers in the grocery goods sector.”
Mr Donohoe said a continuation of below-cost selling of food would leave both consumers and the primary producer as the long-term losers.
Agri Aware’s survey found nearly 90% of people think legislation should be introduced to ensure farmers receive a fair price from supermarkets. Just three in 10 people say below-cost selling of vegetables has long-term benefits for consumers. Some 79% of the public consider quality to be more important than price when purchasing food, and 86% said that Irish farmers’ contribution to society is very important.
Eddie Downey, president of the IFA, called on the Government to fast-track the legislation. Its executive council is meeting next week to bring forward suggestions for the commission.
Mr Downey said: “IFA has campaigned for a long time on this issue, and the fact that the Government has finally published the legislation is progress. It is a first step and the legislation must be passed through the Oireachtas quickly.
“It must be sufficiently robust to restore equity to the food supply chain and curb the dominance of the retail multiples. The latest figures released show that the three major multiples control over 80% of the grocery market.”
Mr Downey warned that without proper enforcement powers, the role of the new commission will be toothless. He said there would be little point in the Government fulfilling its promise of new retail legislation if it didn’t provide the necessary back-up to tackle the retailers.
John Comer, president of the ICMSA, said: “We particularly welcome the powers contained in section 16 of the new bill, which gives the new commission power to summon and examine witnesses on oath who must produce records, etc, if requested.
“That measure must mean — for the first time — that executives of multinational retail multiples will have to account for the decades-long process that has seen more and more of the retail trade being concentrated in fewer and fewer outlets while the farmers’ share of final retail price declines year-on-year.”
