Fine Gael has published a draft Private Members Bill today which they claim could save thousands of jobs in the agri-food industry.
The Bill primarily aims to stamp out incidents where Irish suppliers are forced to pay supermarkets “hello money” to ensure products will be displayed on their shelves.
"It is impossible to quantify the full scale of this and other cloak and dagger practice", Fine Gael food and horticulture spokesman Michael Creed said. "Suppliers are terrified to acknowledge what they are paying to retailers as they fear their products may be removed from retailers' shelves as a result."
Fine Gael says the Bill would "introduce a level of transparency to the sector".
It would make it an offence for retailers to demand payment for prominent display of a suppliers’ produce; Retailers and suppliers would be required to keep a statement of supply which could be inspected by the Competition Authority; details of gross net profit and turnover figures for supermarkets would be published by the Authority and the National Consumer Agency would be empowered to publish an annual report covering the sourcing of food produce by large retailers.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith recently said supermarkets’ responsibilities lie not alone with the customer but with the suppliers and producers also. “Retailers must strike a balance between value for consumers and a fair return to suppliers and producers, this cannot be done at the expense of a viable agri-food sector, such as we are fortunate enough to have in this country,” he said.
The Irish Farmers Association welcomed the Fine Gael draft bill, “it is now widely accepted in the Irish food sector that there is a major lack of retail regulation”, IFA President Padraig Walshe said.
Proposals relating to similar issues have also been submitted to the department of agriculture by the IFA. Under their proposals a supermarket code of practice and a Supermarket Ombudsman’s office would be established.