James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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201. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to meet supermarket owners to discuss and ensure proper payments are made to farmers for their produce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15089/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Fairness in commercial dealings is a key ingredient of a sustainable and well functioning food supply chain. I do not have a role in setting prices or the details of commercial arrangements in the food supply chain but I am concerned about fairness and sustainability. The Grocery Goods Undertakings Regulations, 2016 which entered into force on 30 April 2016 provide for statutory regulation of certain practices, sanctions, investigation and enforcement. The Regulations apply to dealings between grocery goods retailers or wholesalers in the State with an annual worldwide turnover of more than €50 million, and their suppliers. They provide for written contracts to be in place, for payment to suppliers for their goods within 30 days except where otherwise provided in a contract, for retention of records and for submission of an annual compliance report to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which operates under the auspices of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Regulations also prohibit certain specific practices including the compelling of payments for the allocation and retention of shelf space and compelling a supplier to obtain any goods or services from particular third parties.

At EU level the European Commission has examined relationships in the food chain and unfair trading practices but has not to date proposed any legislative measures other than encouraging the formation of producer groups. An agricultural markets task force has also been established by DG AGRI and is due to report by the end of this year.

Sustainable food production requires access to a wide range of markets, competitiveness, adding value and innovation. The resources of my Department and its agencies are deployed to support and develop quality production systems, market insight, understanding of buyer and consumer needs and facilitating varied routes to market.

I believe that operators along the supply chain need to acknowledge their interdependence and work together to develop a supply chain model which sustains agricultural production and positions Ireland to grow the value and volume of agri-food exports. However, as I have indicated, I have no powers to set or directly influence prices or to engage with supermarkets to do so.