The agriculture and food sector brings together businesses of hugely different shapes and sizes, from small-scale family farms to huge multinational enterprises. Large retailers and brands dominate the market, meaning that smaller suppliers are vulnerable to being treated unfairly.

EU leaders have now agreed to a new law, known as the Unfair Trading Practices Directive, to tackle these unfair trading practices in agricultural supply chains. This new law aims to support suppliers of agricultural products to get a fairer deal from their trading relationships.

The new directive is a major success for the Fair Trade movement. For several years, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, together with IFOAM, Oxfam and other actors had been advocating for a new law calling on the EU to ensure that the most vulnerable actors in the supply chain have access to a complaint mechanism and allow complaints against all companies importing food into the EU.

Click here to read a clear and straightforward analysis on the directive.