There was a sense of satisfaction in Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue’s announcement this week that the agriculture and food supply chain bill was finally brought over the line with President Michael D Higgin’s signature.
It has been a slow burn and the EU unfair trading practices (UTP) legislation has had to be implemented for the past two years through an enforcement authority.
This will now give way to An Rialálaí Agraibhia or the Agri Food Regulator, an independent statutory office led by CEO Niamh Lenehan.
There is no denying that the Minister has invested in this legislation and the principles behind it.
However, getting the legislation passed is one thing - getting the ambitions of fairness and transparency in the supply chain is another. Getting farmer and factory buy-in will be a challenge, but it is an absolute necessity for the newly established office to have any chance of being a success.
Survey results
The survey, undertaken by Coyne Research “to measure awareness & understanding of the UTP regulations and to inform the UTP-related issues of most concern to agri food supplier”, shows that while there is farmer awareness, there is limited farmer confidence in what can be delivered.
The results were released at the end of June and the Minister took satisfaction from increased awareness of the UTP legislation.
This might be expected, as there was a considerable promotional campaign to create awareness from the previous survey in early 2022.
What was more telling was that of the 2,560 farmers who participated, over half (52%) were not confident that the UTP regulations would have any impact, while just over one quarter (26%) were of the view that they had at least some confidence that they would.
One quarter of those surveyed felt that they had been subject to a banned UTP in the previous 12 months. That figure increases to 40% when applied to downstream businesses in the supply chain, of which 201 were interviewed for the survey.
Work to be done
While the survey reveals scepticism on the benefit of the UTP legislation, that doesn’t mean that the incoming Agri Food Regulator office cannot be a success.
Its legislative base for shining a light into the dark corners of the processing industry is limited, but it will have access.
What it has to do to succeed is actually persuade the privately owned businesses in the processing sector to open up and reveal the level of profitability in their businesses.
Getting real transparency into what happens beyond the farmgate is the key first step
Getting real transparency into what happens beyond the farmgate is the key first step in building farmer confidence in the fairness of the supply chain.
What is essential is that when farmgate prices are poor in any commodity, farmers understand that it is a market problem, not just factories ripping them off because they can.
Ultimately, all farm produce has to be processed and farmers have no option but sell to a processor. If farmer confidence can be built in the factories, then the Agri Food Regulator’s office will be on its way to being a success.
It will not be an easy or fast journey, but the bottom line is that whatever the limitations, there is no better option and farmers should work with it and give it a chance.
Read more
Food supply chain bill now law
No investigations opened into suspected UTP breaches in 2022
Unfair trading practices survey aims to inform farmers on rights
There was a sense of satisfaction in Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue’s announcement this week that the agriculture and food supply chain bill was finally brought over the line with President Michael D Higgin’s signature.
It has been a slow burn and the EU unfair trading practices (UTP) legislation has had to be implemented for the past two years through an enforcement authority.
This will now give way to An Rialálaí Agraibhia or the Agri Food Regulator, an independent statutory office led by CEO Niamh Lenehan.
There is no denying that the Minister has invested in this legislation and the principles behind it.
However, getting the legislation passed is one thing - getting the ambitions of fairness and transparency in the supply chain is another. Getting farmer and factory buy-in will be a challenge, but it is an absolute necessity for the newly established office to have any chance of being a success.
Survey results
The survey, undertaken by Coyne Research “to measure awareness & understanding of the UTP regulations and to inform the UTP-related issues of most concern to agri food supplier”, shows that while there is farmer awareness, there is limited farmer confidence in what can be delivered.
The results were released at the end of June and the Minister took satisfaction from increased awareness of the UTP legislation.
This might be expected, as there was a considerable promotional campaign to create awareness from the previous survey in early 2022.
What was more telling was that of the 2,560 farmers who participated, over half (52%) were not confident that the UTP regulations would have any impact, while just over one quarter (26%) were of the view that they had at least some confidence that they would.
One quarter of those surveyed felt that they had been subject to a banned UTP in the previous 12 months. That figure increases to 40% when applied to downstream businesses in the supply chain, of which 201 were interviewed for the survey.
Work to be done
While the survey reveals scepticism on the benefit of the UTP legislation, that doesn’t mean that the incoming Agri Food Regulator office cannot be a success.
Its legislative base for shining a light into the dark corners of the processing industry is limited, but it will have access.
What it has to do to succeed is actually persuade the privately owned businesses in the processing sector to open up and reveal the level of profitability in their businesses.
Getting real transparency into what happens beyond the farmgate is the key first step
Getting real transparency into what happens beyond the farmgate is the key first step in building farmer confidence in the fairness of the supply chain.
What is essential is that when farmgate prices are poor in any commodity, farmers understand that it is a market problem, not just factories ripping them off because they can.
Ultimately, all farm produce has to be processed and farmers have no option but sell to a processor. If farmer confidence can be built in the factories, then the Agri Food Regulator’s office will be on its way to being a success.
It will not be an easy or fast journey, but the bottom line is that whatever the limitations, there is no better option and farmers should work with it and give it a chance.
Read more
Food supply chain bill now law
No investigations opened into suspected UTP breaches in 2022
Unfair trading practices survey aims to inform farmers on rights
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