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The Law on Combating the Unjust Recourse to the Contractual Advantage in Trade in Agricultural and Food Products of December 15, 2016 by the Ministry of Agriculture entered into force in July of the following year. ;last year. However, UOKiK and lawmakers have noted the need to amend existing regulations
– the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is closely monitoring the market for fruits and vegetables. In collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, we proposed changes in the regulation of contractual benefits. Thanks to them, the state will be able to protect a greater number of farmers. Especially those who own small farms. The draft amendment was adopted by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers – explained the President of UOKiK, Marek Niechciał, in the justification of the project.
It proposed among other things the deletion of the provisions specifying in which cases UOKiK can intervene. Currently, the Office of Consumer Protection has the option to perform an inspection only if the value of the business turnover between the supplier and the buyer was in one of the last years at least 50 thousand. PLN, and the business figure of a stronger party or its capital group is PLN 100 million the year before.
It was considered that the current thresholds are too high, that is why they were completely abolished in the amendment. As a result, even small suppliers and smallholder farmers will be able to appeal to the Office for contract abuse.
It reads in the justification of the amendment: "The main objective of the project is to include the commercial relations between the supplier and the buyer in the scheme.
In principle, the new regulation aims to better protect farmers in commercial relations, especially in relations with large entities that use their market position and gain a negotiating advantage. conditions of cooperation unfavorable to their contractors, putting them at risk.
To avoid this, the project introduces a simplified definition of the contractual advantage, describing it as the occurrence of a significant disproportion in the buyer's economic potential vis-à-vis the supplier or the supplier vis-à-vis the buyer.There is an imbalance in the market for agricultural products, as suppliers are generally fragmented and the recipients are strong and consolidated companies that often operate in many markets.
The amendment to the Act is intended to also to popularize the institution of denunciation. The regulations ensure the anonymity of the party reporting practices that unfairly use the contractual benefit. The data of such a person will not be disclosed to the parties to the proceedings at any time. The new regulations assume that everyone will be able to report to the Office, if there is a hint of use of the benefit. At present, only such a contractor may submit such notice in writing, which believes that such practices are applied to him. Poland is one of the few EU Member States to have adopted a regulation regulating contractual abuses in the food supply chain. Most countries have codes of good practice. For the moment, there are no uniform rules in the Community governing this issue
The new rules will come into force 14 days after the date of publication.
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