Unfair trading practices explained

Unfair trading practices (UTPs) in business-to-business relationships deviate from good commercial conduct and are contrary to good faith and fair dealing. The food supply chain is vulnerable to unfair trading practices due to stark imbalances between small and large operators. Farmers and small operators in the food supply chain often do not have sufficient bargaining power to defend against them.

The European Union therefore decided to improve the protection of farmers – as well as of small and medium sized suppliers – and provide mandatory rules that outlaw certain unfair trading practices.

The EU Directive 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain was adopted by the European Parliament and Council on 17 April 2019. EU countries were required to transpose the Directive into national law by 1 May 2021 and apply it six months later.

This is part of a wider governance agenda, which aims to achieve a more efficient and fairer food supply chain, and which also includes producer cooperation and measures to enhance market transparency. The Farm to Fork Strategy is also designed to contribute to improving farmers’ position in the food supply chain.

Combatting unfair trading practices

To improve the position of both farmers and small and medium sized businesses in the food supply chain, the EU has adopted legislation that bans 16 unfair trading practices. This Directive distinguishes between 'black' and 'grey' practices. Whereas black unfair trading practices are prohibited, whatever the circumstances, grey practices are allowed if the supplier and the buyer agree on them beforehand in a clear and unambiguous manner.

Ten black unfair trading practices

• Payments later than 30 days for perishable agricultural and food products
• Payment later than 60 days for other agri-food products
• Short-notice cancellations of perishable agri-food products
• Unilateral contract changes by the buyer
• Payments not related to a specific transaction
• Risk of loss and deterioration transferred to the supplier
• Refusal of a written confirmation of a supply agreement by the buyer, despite request from the supplier
• Misuse of trade secrets by the buyer
• Commercial retaliation by the buyer
• Transferring the costs of examining customer complaints to the supplier

Six grey unfair trading practices

These are allowed only if agreed beforehand in a clear and unambiguous manner.

• Return of unsold products
• Payment of the supplier for stocking, display and listing
• Payment of the supplier for promotion
• Payment of the supplier for marketing
• Payment of the supplier for advertising
• Payment of the supplier for staff of the buyer, fitting out premises

The Directive provides minimum harmonisation on unfair trading practices in all EU countries. This will ensure a level playing field on those practices, which were identified as the most problematic.

Key rules of the Directive

Protection of weaker suppliers against stronger buyers

The Directive provides for the protection of weaker suppliers against stronger buyers, which includes any supplier of agricultural and food products with a turnover of up to €350 million with differentiated levels of protection provided below that threshold. This covers farmers, producer organisations and distributors below the threshold. This also applies to suppliers and buyers located outside the EU, provided one of the parties is located within the EU.

National transposition

When transposing the Directive into their national law, EU countries could choose to be stricter than the Directive and go beyond its scope. However, they could not offer less protection than that foreseen by the Directive.

The Commission published an interim report on the state of the transposition and implementation of the Directive. All EU countries notified its complete transposition into national law. The Commission is currently carrying out a conformity check to assess the compatibility of the national laws with the Directive's obligations.

Transposition measures per EU country

Enforcement authorities

Each EU country has designated a competent authority to enforce these rules. These authorities must have the power to both launch investigations and fine operators who break the rules.

Country	Enforcement authority	Contact details
Austria	Das Fairness-Büro	E-mail: officefairness-buero [dot] gv [dot] at (office[at]fairness-buero[dot]gv[dot]at) Phone: +43 1 710 95 18-602600
	Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde	E-mail: wettbewerbbwb [dot] gv [dot] at (wettbewerb[at]bwb[dot]gv[dot]at) Phone: +43 1 245 08-0
Belgium	DG for Economic Inspection of the FPS Economy – FR / NL	E-mail: utp [dot] agrifoodchaineconomie [dot] fgov [dot] be (utp[dot]agrifoodchain[at]economie[dot]fgov[dot]be)
Bulgaria	Commission for the Protection of Competition	E-mail: delovodstvocpc [dot] bg (delovodstvo[at]cpc[dot]bg)
Croatia	The Croatian Competition Agency (Agencija za zaštitu tržišnog natjecanja)	E-mail: agencija [dot] ztnaztn [dot] gov [dot] hr (agencija[dot]ztn[at]aztn[dot]gov[dot]hr) Phone: +385 1 617 64 48 Fax: +385 1 617 64 50
Cyprus	Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment	E-mail: directorda [dot] moa [dot] gov [dot] cy (director[at]da[dot]moa[dot]gov[dot]cy) Phone: +357 22 408 519 Fax: +357 22 781 425
Czechia	Office for the Protection of Competition	E-mail: postauohs [dot] cz (posta[at]uohs[dot]cz) Phone: +420 542 167 111 International department Phone: +420 542 167 795 Fax: +420 542 167 11
Denmark	Danish Competition and Consumer Authority	E-mail: utpkfst [dot] dk (utp[at]kfst[dot]dk) Phone: +45 4171 5000
Estonia	Estonian Competition Authority	E-mail: infokonkurentsiamet [dot] ee (info[at]konkurentsiamet[dot]ee) Phone: +372 667 2400
Finland	Finnish Food Market Ombudsman	E-mail: etmvetmv [dot] fi (etmv[at]etmv[dot]fi)
France	Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF)	Contact: via contact form on the website Phone: +33 (0) 1 44 87 17 17
Germany	Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung - BLE)	E-mail: utpble [dot] de (utp[at]ble[dot]de) Phone: +49 228 6845-0
Greece	Committee for Combating Unfair Trading Practices – Ministry of Rural Development and Food of Greece	E-mail: apetropoulouminagric [dot] gr (apetropoulou[at]minagric[dot]gr) Phone: +0302102124289
Hungary	NEBIH (National Food Chain Safety Office)	E-mail: tpfonebih [dot] gov [dot] hu (tpfo[at]nebih[dot]gov[dot]hu) Phone: +36-1-336-9000
Ireland	Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Enforcement Authority	E-mail: UTPagriculture [dot] gov [dot] ie (UTP[at]agriculture[dot]gov[dot]ie) Phone: +353 (0) 1 5058607
Italy	Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies - ICQRF Department	E-mail: icqrf [dot] capodipartimentopoliticheagricole [dot] it (icqrf[dot]capodipartimento[at]politicheagricole[dot]it) Phone: +39 06 4824047 / +39 06 4884467
Latvia	The Competition Council of Latvia	E-mail: pastskp [dot] gov [dot] lv (pasts[at]kp[dot]gov[dot]lv) Phone: +371 6728 2865
Lithuania	Public Institution Rural Business and Markets Development Agency	E-mail: infolitfood [dot] lt (info[at]litfood[dot]lt) Phone: +370 52 649035
Luxembourg	Conseil de la concurrence	E-mail: infoconcurrence [dot] public [dot] lu (info[at]concurrence[dot]public[dot]lu) Phone: +352 2478 4174
Malta	Unfair Trading Practices Board	E-mail: utpboard [dot] mafagov [dot] mt (utpboard[dot]mafa[at]gov[dot]mt)
Netherlands	Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM)	E-mail: ACM-Postacm [dot] nl (ACM-Post[at]acm[dot]nl) Phone: +31 70 7222 000 Fax: +31 70 7222 355
Poland	Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection)	E-mail: uokikuokik [dot] gov [dot] pl (uokik[at]uokik[dot]gov[dot]pl) Phone: + 48 22 55 60 800
Portugal	Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica	E-mail: correio [dot] asaeasae [dot] pt (correio[dot]asae[at]asae[dot]pt) Phone: +351 217 983 600 Fax: +351 217 983 654
Romania	Consiliul Concurentei	E-mail: officeconsiliulconcurentei [dot] ro (office[at]consiliulconcurentei[dot]ro)
Slovakia	Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic	E-mail: utps [dot] agrifoodland [dot] gov [dot] sk (utps[dot]agrifood[at]land[dot]gov[dot]sk)
Slovenia	Slovenian Competition Protection Agency	E-mail: gp [dot] avkgov [dot] si (gp[dot]avk[at]gov[dot]si) Phone: +386 1 478 3597
Spain	Agencia de Información y Control Alimentarios (AICA)	E-mail: daicamapa [dot] es (daica[at]mapa[dot]es) Phone: +34-913478374
Sweden	Swedish Competition Authority	E-mail: konkurrensverketkkv [dot] se (konkurrensverket[at]kkv[dot]se) Phone: +46 8 700 1600

Complaints

The Directive contains measures, including the protection of the complainants, to help weaker suppliers exercise their rights. They can choose which enforcement authority they want to file a complaint with: their national authority, or the authority of the EU country, where the buyer is located.

Evaluation of the Directive

To assess the effectiveness of measures taken by Member States, an evaluation of the EU Directive 2019/633 at EU level will be available end of 2025. To feed into this evaluation, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development conduct annual surveys across all EU countries.

The results from previous years' surveys can be found here: Results of the UTP surveys.

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