The Agri-Food Regulator’s annual report for 2024 outlines the work the independent statutory office completed in its first full year since being established in December 2023.

Chair Joe Healy highlighted some of the achievements to date, but also noted some of the difficulties faced. He described the securing of the first conviction by the regulator for a breach of agri-food unfair trading law in November 2024 as “a very important milestone”.

That was a case against Asba Meats in Co Clare for delay in payment for cattle supplied by a Galway farmer. The regulator also started publishing weekly selling prices for beef forequarter, hindquarter and minced meat in December of 2024 following the reaching of an agreement with the Department of Agriculture, Meat Industry Ireland and representatives from ABP, Dawn Meats, Kepak and Liffey Meats.

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The regulator said this success allowed it to build a solid foundation and relationships with the parties for future price reporting initiatives.

Healy noted there were early challenges for the body, with a focus on the egg sector failing to get requested data from all retail businesses.

This meant that the regulator was unable to produce the type of detailed report envisaged.

In response, Healy wrote to the minister for agriculture in September last year requesting additional powers which would compel the provision of necessary price and market information from relevant businesses in the agri-food supply chain.

“I consider that these additional powers are essential so that we can address the underlying issue of lack of transparency and information asymmetry in the agri-food supply chain,” Healy said.

On the organisational side, one of the key priorities for the first year was to build capacity. Staff numbers increased from an initial four people to 15 by the end of the year. There was also an extensive programme of engagement undertaken with farmers and businesses across the agri-food supply chain to increase awareness of the new regulator’s existence and functions.

Under the 2023 legislation which established the regulator, any buyer of agricultural and food products with a turnover of more than €50m are required to submit an annual compliance report to the regulator detailing the buyer’s compliance with unfair trading rules covering the previous calendar year.

The deadline for those first reports was the end of March 2025.

During 2024 the body received 29 complaints, with 16 of those found not to be in the scope of the relevant legislation.