The Cabinet has approved a bill to establish a new agri-food authority which will be known as the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain. According to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, the objective of the office will be to promote the principles of fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food-supply chain by conducting market analysis on all sectors through publicly available data. The body will also be tasked with engaging with retailers, processors, wholesalers and farmers.
In welcoming the announcement of the Office for Fairness and Transparency made by the Minister earlier this week, the Irish Farmers’ Association says that the new authority should have “full powers of investigation” in its new role.
IFA President Tim Cullinan claims that “we have waited a long time for this. We look forward to seeing the draft legislation and to having genuine input into what powers the office will have.”
He says that just doing market analysis based on publicly available information will not suffice, adding that it should have full powers of investigation that would enable the body to compel actors in the chain to provide them with real data and back up documentation.