• The Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers adopted an amendment to the Act on the Unfair Use of Contractual Advantage.
• Changes in the regulations mean better protection of farmers and more effective prosecuting of entities using the contractual advantage.
• The new regulations will particularly benefit farmers who run smaller farms.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection monitors the fruit and vegetables market on an ongoing basis. Together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, we proposed changes in the regulations on contractual advantage. They will help the state to protect a larger number of farmers. Especially those who own small farms. The draft amendment was adopted by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers - says the president of UOKiK, Marek Niechciał.

The Act on Contractual Advantage entered into force on 12 July 2017. After one year, UOKiK saw the need to amend certain provisions to protect the interests of Polish farmers even more effectively.

At present, the Authority can only intervene when the turnover between the supplier and the buyer in one of the recent years was at least PLN 50,000, and the turnover of a stronger party or its capital group was PLN 100 m in the previous year. The amendment does not provide for these thresholds. This will allow to protect small and medium-sized entities, including farmers, as well as to increase the number of cases handled by the Authority. The changes also give everyone an opportunity to report the unfair use of contractual advantage and ensure their anonymity. Another important change is to give the Authority's decision the order of immediate enforceability, which means an order to immediately stop the practice being detrimental to the weaker side of a contract, such as a farmer. 

Regardless of its own activities, UOKiK cooperates with institutions dealing with the agri-food markets, including the National Support Center for Agriculture or the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

More information on contractual advantage: www.przewagakontraktowa.uokik.gov.pl

Additional information for the media:
UOKiK Press Office
pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Phone: +48 22 55 60 111, +48 22 55 60 106
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Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL