The Agricultural and Food Chain Supply Act established a new regulator in the Republic of Ireland which came into force in December 2023. The remit is to protect against unfair commercial terms in the Agri-food supply sector. Some of the new industry obligations will make fraud mitigation mass-balance checks easier; for example the requirement for all buyers and suppliers within scope of the regulations to record sales volumes, costs and discounts and to supply them to the regulator on request. The regulations apply when the buyer has large commercial muscle in comparison to the supplier (defined as a buyer turnover of < 2 million Euro when the supplier has a lower turnover).
Key prohibitions in the act include short notice cancellations (less than 30 days) for perishable products, acts of commercial retaliation against suppliers seeking to invoke their legal rights, buyers using suppliers’ trade secrets, late payment, refusal to confirm supply agreements in writing, and unilateral contract changes by the buyer.
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