The new Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain will be crucial in ensuring a fair share of the consumer euro goes to farmers and in regulating unfair trading practices, says the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).

IFA president Tim Cullinan said “we have waited a long time” for the office, which will be established through the agricultural and food supply chain bill 2022, approved by cabinet on Tuesday.

Cullinan said the IFA looks forward to seeing the draft legislation and to having genuine input into what powers the office will have.

Full powers

The Tipperary farmer said the office “must have full powers of investigation and be able to compel actors in the chain to provide them with real data and back up documentation”.

“Just doing market analysis based on publicly available information will not cut it,” he said.

He warned that if the office “does not ensure a viable price for farmers for their work and investment, then we will see more farmers in horticulture, potatoes and the pig and poultry sectors go out of business”.

“Large retailers using their dominant position to drive down prices to farmers to unviable levels, often below the cost of production, has to stop,” he warned.

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