2019/0340/PL
EC/EFTA
PL Poland
  • C00A - AGRICULTURE, FISHING AND FOODSTUFFS
2019-10-16
2019-07-19

agricultural and food products

Draft Act amending the Act on the organisation of certain agricultural markets and the Act

on counteracting the fraudulent use of contractual advantage in the marketing of agricultural and food products.

The Draft further clarifies the provisions concerning the obligation to conclude written contracts for the supply of agricultural products by extending the requirement for concluding contracts to intermediaries.

It implements the provisions of the Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (O J EU L 347 of 20.12.2013, p. 671, as amended). The Draft has introduced a measure adding potatoes, rape and turnip rape to the agricultural products subject to the requirement for concluding contracts. The statutory authorisation of the Minister responsible for agricultural markets has been extended so as to allow the Minister to lay down, by way of a regulation, the types of agricultural products for which a minimum contract duration or a minimum period between the conclusion of the contract and the delivery, or a date of the conclusion of the contract for the provision of agricultural products is determined. The scope of imposing fines has been extended.

Furthermore, the Draft extends the scope of the fraudulent use of contractual advantage in the marketing of the agricultural products defined to include the practice of purchasing agricultural products for which a reference price has been established below this price by a buyer who purchases the agricultural product directly from its producer.

It has been proposed that the Minister responsible for agricultural markets establish the reference price for a particular product or product subcategory based on a set formula. The scope of manifestation of the fraudulent use of contractual advantage has been extended to include the purchase of an agricultural or food product, or a subcategory thereof, produced on the territory of the Republic of Poland, below its reference price where such a price has been established. Technical provisions of the Draft subject to notification: Article 2(5).