IFA President Francie Gorman has called on the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to grant additional powers to the Agri Food Regulator.
These powers are needed so Agri Food Regulator can compel businesses in the agri-food supply chain to provide price and market information when requested.
The office of the Agri Food regulator, which was established in December 2023, has responsibility for enforcement of the UTPs Directive and also has an important market data analysis and price transparency function.
“After 18 months in operation, the Minister must act now and grant these additional powers that will allow the office to compel businesses to provide necessary market information when requested. The current powers are clearly not sufficient. IFA is aware of a number of a large retailers that did not provide information to the Agri Food Regulator when asked,” he said.
The office should be in a position to produce price and market reports on all sectors of the food supply chain. IFA is aware that the Agri Food Regulator reported back to the Minister for Agriculture in September 2024 on the initial establishment of the office and indicated the need for these additional powers. This request has not been acted upon to date, but the IFA President said now is the time to grant these additional powers.
“This office is critical to providing a more even playing pitch for farmers and smaller suppliers in the food supply chain and to lessen the impact of a few large retailers or multinational food companies,” he said.
