COAG takes to Brussels a proposal against abusive practices.

The organization considers it essential to implement public regulatory mechanisms at European level to avoid abusive practices.

The Coordinator of organizations of farmers and ranchers (COAG) He participated, through the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), at the first meeting of the new mandate of the High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain.

The member of the Executive Committee and president of COAG COAG Canary, Rafael Hernández, He will claim the European Commission of the need to implement, urgently, new rules at EU level to address unfair trade practices affecting the chain and especially farmers and ranchers, and the establishment of effective enforcement systems in Member States.

"It is absolutely essential to launch public regulatory mechanisms at European level to prevent abusive and unfair practices between actors in the food chain", Hernandez has stated in the HLF.

In this sense, already they delivered much of the EU bodies, from the European Parliament, the Council, through the Task Force of Agricultural Markets issued its earnings report last November.

The European Commission must address the multiple requests for action and urgent action. There should be a mandatory regulation and a single legal approach for the entire European Union, prohibit certain abusive practices (Retail losses, blind auction, imposition of atypical payments ...), providing a common element for all business operations, and to ensure a level playing field in the European Union, although it may leave some leeway for member states to suit their particularities.

"Leaning only on a voluntary system to address unfair trade practices is insufficient and ineffective: not easy for farmers to file complaints anonymously and reduce the fear that generates the possibility of reprisals from their customers ", Hernandez stressed.

COAG considers that the lack of enforcement by an independent third authority that could impose sanctions if codes of good practice fail to comply is the main weakness of any voluntary system.