The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has given an update on the European Commission’s proposal to amend the common market organisation (CMO) regulation focused on strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain.

In December 2024, the commission published a proposal to amend the CMO regulation 1308 of 2013.

The commission proposal, and subsequent amendments, are aimed at strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain, according to Maria Dunne, assistant secretary general in the DAFM, with responsibility for agri-food sectoral policy and strategy development.

The key elements include: strengthening EU-level provisions on contracts involving farmers with other actors in the supply chain, including food industry and retail, across all sectors covered by the CMO; and strengthening producer organisations to allow farmers to cooperate and act collectively in a more effective way.

"The department consulted with key stakeholders on the proposals, following which it engaged with the EU Presidency, European Commission and other member states on the draft text of the proposal," Dunne said.

"The council is now ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament once the latter adopts its position.

"The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development is expected to vote on its report in September while approval of the mandate in plenary session is expected to take place in October."

Dunne alongside DAFM colleagues gave the update at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food this week.

Dunne also spoke to the committee about the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on cooperation among enforcement authorities responsible for the Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive.

"The UTP Directive covers unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationshipsin the agricultural and food supply chain," Dunne explained.

"The UTP Directive required the enforcement authorities to cooperate effectively with each other and with the commission, and to provide each other with mutual assistance in investigations that have a cross-border dimension.

"Following consultation by the European Commission, it was found that the experience of enforcement authorities is that gathering information, finding infringement and imposing and enforcing penalties can be diƯicult when the buyer is in another member state."

Dunne said that the proposed regulation aims to "improve and increase" cooperation between enforecement authorities.

Specifically, the proposed rules aim to ensure that a "legal basis is provided to enable exchanges of information and requests for enforcement measures" between member states.

"By providing tools to enable enforcement authorities to gather information and investigate non-compliances against buyers located in another member state, the proposed powers will help to further protect suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain against unfair trading practices," Dunne said.

"The department, in close consultation with the Agri-Food Regulator, engaged with the EU Presidency, European Commission and other member states on the draft text of the proposal, to ensure that the provisions worked well from an Irish perspective.

"On April 7, the special committee of agriculture approved the council’s negotiating mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament.

"The negotiations are expected to commence the plenary stage in September 2025."

In addition to discussions around these proposals, there were concerns raised by members of the committee at the meeting around the current powers of the Agri-Food Regulator and its ability to compel businesses to provide market and price data.

DAFM's Maria Dunne told the committee that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has "stated he is fully committed to ensuring" the Agri-Food Regulator is "equipped with the necessary powers to fulfill their statutory function".

Aontú TD and member of the Oireachtas agriculture committee Paul Lawless told officials at the meeting that the regulator does not "have any teeth to address transparency" around price currently, calling it a "major oversight".