The Slovak Presidency makes important progress towards the EU-wide fight against unfair commercial practices

Brussels (15 November 2016) - The priority of the Slovak Presidency of 'Strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain and fighting against unfair trade practices' was endorsed at today's Agriculture and Fisheries Council in a just issued report by the Agricultural Markets Taskforce.

We are persistent in our efforts. We want to translate the results of this report into Council conclusions to be adopted in December. Increasing the transparency of the food supply chain, and fair trade conditions and behaviour throughout the entire chain is possible only through an EU-wide solution.

Gabriela Matečná

'Slovak agricultural diplomacy has achieved yet another important success in its efforts to introduce EU-wide legislation against unfair trade practices. The report by the Agricultural Markets Taskforce definitely recommends the introduction of common EU-wide legislation against unfair trade practices in the food supply chain. It also highlights that voluntary initiatives in some Member States have not sufficiently accomplished their purpose,' said Gabriela Matečná, the Slovak Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Presidency has been highlighting the importance of farmers' position in the food supply chain and the fight against unfair trade practices for a long time. It succeeded in introducing this topic to the agenda of the current Presidency Trio, i.e. the three Member States (the Netherlands, Slovakia, Malta) holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU during the current 18-month period. A thematic conference was held in Bratislava during the Slovak Presidency, and the topic was debated in the informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Bratislava. Strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain was also included in the Commission's working programme for 2017, thus a clear recognition of its importance.

"We are persistent in our efforts. We want to translate the results of this report into Council conclusions to be adopted in December. Increasing the transparency of the food supply chain, and fair trade conditions and behaviour throughout the entire chain is possible only through an EU-wide solution,' underlined Minister Gabriela Matečná.

The Agricultural Markets Taskforce was set up at the beginning of 2016 upon the initiative of the European Commission.

Final report available: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agri-markets-task-force/index_en.htm