By Pawel Kulak

One year has passed since the Act on Counteracting the Unfair Use of Contractual Advantage in the Trade of Agricultural and Food Products entered into force. The act aimed to protect small farmers and grocery suppliers from the abuse of power by large supermarkets and chain stores. During the past year, the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP):

  • issued one decision regarding the unfair use of contractual advantage;
  • launched formal proceedings in two other cases; and
  • conducted a number of explanatory investigations.

Further, inspections were carried out at soft fruit purchasing centres and a report on the dairy sector was released. In July 2018 the government adopted an amendment to the act which will allow the OCCP to intervene in cases involving smaller farmers.