The Agri-Food Regulator: monitoring trade in the Agri-Food Supply Chain

Ireland has established a new statutory body which will examine the structure of the agricultural and food products supply chain and consider the potential impact of bargaining power and economic imbalances between suppliers and buyers.

The Agri-Food Regulator is responsible for enforcement of the Unfair Trading (UT) Regulations which provide legal protection against specific unfair trading practices. This includes any supplier of agriculture or food products, subject to their annual turnover being lower than the buyer's turnover (once the buyer’s annual turnover is greater than €2m). Since the introduction of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023, the remit of the new authority goes beyond enforcement of the UT Regulations, and it will pursue a broader objective of promoting fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain. One of the ways the Agri-Regulator will do this is through the provision of information about price and market data relating to the supply chain.

The Board of the Agri-Food Regulator, in conjunction with its new CEO, Niamh Lenehan, and her team, has recently published a Strategy Statement for the years 2024 – 2026 which sets out the key priorities for the regulator in the coming years.

In our recent publication, we consider the statutory powers of the Agri-Regulator to achieve its objectives and look forward to how the role of the new enforcement authority might develop in the coming year.

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For further information in relation to this topic, please contact Anna-Marie Curran, partner, Damien Ryan, lawyer, or any member of the EU, Competition & Procurement group.

Date published: 25 July 2024