The debate in France on incorporating the cost of inputs into the price received by farmers has moved forward with the proposal of a law made by a member of the French National Assembly.

Gregory Besson-Moreau has proposed a bill that will put mandatory cost indicators into the price negotiations between farmers and processors and supermarkets.

The proposal aims at ensuring that farmers get a better share of final consumer price by legally insisting that the cost of producing food are factored into the prices paid to farmers.

Much interest will focus on the proposed law’s clause that will introduce a ban on food clearance sales without the permission of the farmers involved.

The proposed bill has been welcomed by the French agriculture minister on behalf of the government.

Environmental cost

The president of ICMSA Pat McCormack has welcomed the developments stating that the proposed law will not create a new regulation but rather strengthen an already existing French one while attracting attention at EU level.

In Ireland we have no legal mechanism for ensuring that farmers get a fair price at all

“Irish politicians seem terrified of our powerful retail corporations and unwilling to give any serious consideration to any measure that might displease them or upset the cheap food policy they operate,” McCormack said.

“In Ireland we have no legal mechanism for ensuring that farmers get a fair price at all, much less ensure that the costs of producing the food in the first place are covered.”

McCormack warns that the focus in Ireland is becoming more pressing as the costs and inputs around environmental sustainability become clearer.

We are going to have to introduce a system that ensures that the people producing the food are paid the economic and environmental costs of production

“It’s already obvious that we are going to have to reform and recalculate what we pay for food, because the present system, invented by the corporate retailers for their benefit, is not even paying the economic costs.

“We are going to have to introduce a system that ensures that the people producing the food are paid the economic and environmental costs of production.”

The ICMSA highlights that within the Agri-Strategy 2030 document there is no mention of the scale of changes to consumer prices that must take place.