“Today, with the publication in the Official Journal of the EU, the countdown for the application in Europe of the new Directive against unfair practices in the agri-food chain starts. The Member States will have to transpose it within 24 months, but everything possible must be done so that Italian producers can benefit from the new rights as early as the end of this year”. As Paolo De Castro, Vice-President of the Agriculture Commission of the European Parliament and rapporteur of the text, comments on the publication in the Official Journal of the EU of the new European Directive, which has come to an end in record time, after just 12 months of decision-making since the presentation of the proposal by Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan. But even after 10 years that have seen Italy fight on the front line against the powerful lobbies of large-scale distribution and international purchasing centres.
“The new directive is fundamental for at least two reasons” explains the PD MEP. "In the first place, it guarantees legal certainty for farmers, producers and cooperatives who will be able to operate on a level of fairness and transparency in their commercial relations. Furthermore, the new text is the premise for a reorganization of the European agri-food system so that it is able to found a new pact with citizens, under the banner of the quality of the food that arrives on our tables”.
"The ball is now in the hands of the Member States, but we need to act quickly" underlines De Castro forcefully, "the uncertain political context of Europe requires it, and the need to put an end to unacceptable incorrect behaviour, which they cause more than 10 billion euro of damage in the EU every year, and additional costs for those who suffer them of 4,4 billion. Our producers – concludes De Castro – no longer have to suffer vexatious practices such as late payments or refusals to grant a written contract, or even submit to below-cost sales and double-reduction auctions, as happens in Italy”.
