A food regulator with 'real teeth, real powers' needed to tackle 'imbalance' in the supply chain
"The sectors that are really depending on the home market and retailers are always the sectors in trouble," according to IFA president Tim Cullinan.
A food regulator with "real teeth, real powers, and real scope" to address the imbalance that currently exists in the supply chain whereby farmers are "price-takers" is needed, according to TDs.
The Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture, food and the marine has published its report on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022 in which it makes a series of recommendations to enhance and strengthen the proposed legislation.
The bill will establish a new independent statutory authority to be known as the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain.
The objective of the new office will be to promote the principles of fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain.
In its report, which has been received by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue, the committee recommends that the proposed office should instead be called the National Food Regulator, and that the maximum fine for offences committed under the terms of the bill be increased to €10m or 10% of global turnover, whichever is greater, to act as a deterrent.
"For years, stakeholders in the agri-food sector have advocated for a regulator in the food supply chain to ensure fairness, equity, and transparency from the primary producer to the consumer," committee chairman Jackie Cahill said, launching the report.
"The committee hopes that with the establishment of this proposed office, the sector will see an improvement in the position of primary producers in the food supply chain and that with improved transparency, greater relations between each part of the supply chain can be built upon.”
Following engagements with stakeholders, the committee has made 20 recommendations that it believes will "enhance and strengthen" the proposed legislation.
The committee recommends that the proposed office should have the power to require that market-sensitive data that isn’t publicly published must be available to the proposed office if requested to ensure fairness in the food supply chain.
TDs and senators also believe that the office should have the authority to "conduct random inspections" on suppliers and buyers to ensure "continued compliance" with the rules on unfair trading practices.
It is also recommended that the office be obliged to conduct and publish regular analysis and reports on comparable price and market information elsewhere in the EU, UK, and among international trading partners, which could assist in comparing trends and determining whether "domestic cartel-like behaviour could be taking place".
The committee has also said that the number of the proposed office's board should be expanded from six, "in line with the other state bodies and is made up of experienced representatives of participants involved throughout the agri-food food supply chain".
Speaking at today's launch, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said that this bill is important in addressing the "imbalance" that currently exists in the market chain, "whereby farmers are price-takers".
"There is a complete lack of transparency from the moment the food leaves the farmer until it reaches the shelves of the retailer," Mr Carthy said.
"It is my hope that the minister takes heed of this and the legislation that he brings forward is much more broad in terms of scope, and in terms of the range of powers that would be provided to the new body and what we see at the end of the day is a food regulator with real teeth, real powers, and real scope to actually address that imbalance."
Addressing the report launch this morning, Irish Farmers' Association president Tim Cullinan said that it is "more than timely" that this bill is progressed.
On Wednesday, the IFA stood down protests at retailers in Co Cavan, where egg producers were calling for increases in the prices that are passed back to them.
"The sectors that are really depending on the home market and retailers are always the sectors in trouble," Mr Cullinan said this morning.
"We have to keep above the cost of production, there's a margin here for everybody in the supply chain, that not one actor in the supply chain is keeping the margin.
Mr McConalogue said this week that the office will be up and running by the end of the year, "and will be an office with real teeth that will protect our farm families".
"I want those who are breaking the unfair trading practices to be afraid of the office. It will shine a light on the sector," Mr McConalogue said
