Press release
Minister McConalogue welcomes greater awareness of Unfair Trading Practice regulations
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, today welcomed the findings of the recent phone/online surveys commissioned by the Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority, which show an improvement in the general awareness and understanding of the protections offered to suppliers of agri-food products by the Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) Regulations when compared to the findings of similar surveys conducted last year.
Minister McConalogue said:
“It is encouraging that this year’s surveys have found that agri-food suppliers have greater awareness and understanding of the UTP Regulations and the protections they offer than was the case last year. However, unfortunately the surveys also indicate that some suppliers still continue to experience unfair trading practices in their dealings with their buyers.
“The surveys also reinforce one of last year’s key findings that there are underlying factors that act to prevent suppliers from raising breaches of the Regulations with their buyer, their representative organisation or the Enforcement Authority. I would strongly encourage suppliers to raise matters relating to unfair trading practices with the Enforcement Authority where appropriate to do so."
The 2023 surveys sought to measure the impact of the work of the Enforcement Authority over the past year and, in particular, its ongoing awareness-raising efforts in respect of the UTPs using the 2022 surveys as a baseline. The surveys aimed to gain detail on:
The Minister also announced the publication of the Enforcement Authority’s report on it activities in 2022, which is available on its website: www.utp.gov.ie.
The Minister signed S.I. No. 198/2021 - European Union (Unfair Trading Practices in the agricultural and food supply chain) Regulations 2021 (irishstatutebook.ie) on 28 April 2021.
These Regulations gave effect to the provisions of The Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 in relation to business-to-business relationships in the agriculture and food supply chain.
The Regulations prohibit 16 unfair trading practices (UTPs) – 10 (black) UTPs which are prohibited in all circumstances and a further 6 (grey) UTPs which are prohibited unless the parties agree clearly and unambiguously beforehand. These are outlined in a UTP summary Leaflet (utp.gov.ie) and listed below.
10 Black UTPs (prohibited in all circumstances)
1. Payment later than 30 days for perishable agricultural and food products
2. Payment later than 60 days for other agricultural and food products
3. Short-notice cancellations of perishable agricultural and food products
4. Unilateral contract changes by the buyer
5. Payment not related to a specific transaction
6. Risk of loss and deterioration transferred to the supplier
7. Refusal of written confirmation of a supply agreement by the buyer, despite request of the supplier
8. Misuse of trade secrets by the buyer
9. Commercial retaliation by the buyer
10. Transferring the costs of examining customer complaints to the supplier
Grey UTPs (prohibited unless the parties agree clearly and unambiguously beforehand)
1. The buyer returns unsold products to the supplier without paying for those unsold products
2. Payment by the supplier for stocking, display and listing
3. Payment by the supplier for promotion
4. Payment by the supplier for marketing
5. Payment by the supplier for advertising
6. Payment by the supplier for staff of the buyer, fitting out premises
The Regulations afford protection for any supplier of agricultural and food products with a turnover of up to €350 million subject to the supplier’s turnover being lower than the buyer’s turnover within stated categories. The Regulations provide protection for five graduated levels of supplier turnover categories relative to the buyer up to the €350 million turnover limit.
Under the Regulations, a supplier is defined as an agricultural producer or any natural or legal person who sells agricultural and food products. A buyer is defined as any natural or legal person or any public authority who buys agricultural and food products. The Regulations apply only to business-to-business relationships and do not cover sales to consumers.
The UTP Regulations have been applicable since 1 July 2021 to supply agreements established since 28 April 2021 and, from 28 April 2022, all supply agreements, including those that were in place before 28 April 2021, must be in compliance with the Regulations.
2023 survey findings
The Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority recently conducted an online survey of primary producers and a phone survey of downstream business suppliers. In these surveys, respondents were asked about unfair trading practice related issues they have faced within the food supply chain.
The main findings of the 2023 survey of downstream business suppliers show that:
Of the primary producers who completed the online survey, there was a 12% increase in the level of awareness of the UTPs and an 8% increase in the understanding that the Regulations offer protection against UTPs.
The Enforcement Authority has established a dedicated website - www.utp.gov.ie - which contains useful resource materials and contact details including how suppliers can make a complaint to the Authority. Details of the 2022 and 2023 surveys are available on the website.
2022 Activity Report
The 2022 report is available at the following link: The Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority Activity Report 2022
The Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill was approved by Government for presentation to the Houses of the Oireachtas in November 2022 and the bill was recently passed by Dáil Éireann, and is currently under consideration by the Seanad.
This Bill, when enacted, will establish a new independent statutory Authority to be known as An Rialálaí Agraibhia. The enabling provisions in the Bill will provide for the transfer of responsibility of UTP enforcement functions to the remit of the Regulator, which is expected to occur at the time of commencement of the Act. The Bill will also grant the Regulator additional powers to promote fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain.