Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Antitrust Guidelines for Sustainability Agreements in Agriculture: Discussion

Ms Henrieta Jany-Roskova:

It is difficult for me to judge whether it would be more attractive.

You would need to do a market study to understand the consumer demand. As to whether you could have a sustainability agreement for that purpose, we had discussions with some stakeholders about putting such initiatives forward. When allowing the raising of animals, you would need to demonstrate animal welfare and whether the standards would be legally binding, that is, mandatory. We must also consider the fact that standards such as those for organic production are not mandatory. They are voluntary production methods so the standards are not considered mandatory at EU or national level, although you need to produce according to certain rules. I do not know what the current situation is. This is something that would require more in-depth assessment. To determine whether this would be more beneficial for that purpose, one would need to carry out a market study to understand demand at the level of the consumer and whether consumers are willing to pay more in such a situation.