Agriculture minister rules out restoring ban on below-cost selling of food in new bill

One in four food producers said they have been subjected to an unfair trading practice

Despite repeated calls from farmers for a ban to be restored, Charlie McConalogue said a prohibition will not be introduced as part of the legislation he is due to publish shortly.

There are no plans to ban below-cost selling of food as part of the new bill to establish the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain, agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue has confirmed.

Despite repeated calls from farmers and representative organisations for a ban to be restored as they struggle with input costs, Mr McConalogue said a prohibition will not be introduced as part of the legislation he is due to publish shortly and to bring through the Dáil in advance of the summer.