European Commission must propose new legislation against unfair trading practices!

A broad coalition consisting of AIM, CEJA, Copa and Cogeca, EFFAT, Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), FoodDrinksEurope, and Oxfam International has sent a call to the European Commission demanding that “Now is the time for action to combat unfair trading practices”.

Together with EFFAT and Oxfam International, the FTAO has specified in a letter to the President of the European Commission that such legislation should introduce an enforcement mechanism against UTPs. To effective and fair, the aforementioned mechanism should include the following elements:

  • ’ex officio’ investigations, anonymous complaint procedures, as well as confidentiality are essential to address the current climate of fear existing in food supply chains.
  • coordinated enforcement and common European standards are required to stop buyers from moving their purchasing department to low-enforcement countries.
  • enforcement across the full supply chain and access to redress for actors outside the EU selling to businesses inside the EU is paramount to Policy Coherence for Development and to ensure a level playing field for all actors in the supply chain, whether they are located inside or outside the EU.
  • dissuasive sanctions will act as the best preventive measure against UTPs.

Furthermore, the coalition calls upon the co-legislators – the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament – to jointly work on the Commission’s proposal for legislation and ensure its timely adoption.

“The current Commission should not pass the hot potato again to the new College of Commissioners. Food supply chains won´t be sustainable unless they are fair. Now it is time to legislate against Unfair Trading Practices” stated Sergi Corbalán, Executive Director of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.

ENDS

Contact:
Peter Möhringer | moehringer@fairtrade-advocacy.org | Tel: +32 2 54 31 92 3
Fair Trade Advocacy Office
Village Partenaire – bureau 1 | 15 rue Fernand Bernierstraat | 1060 Brussels – Belgium
www.fairtrade-advocacy.org