News Market protection
New law in force against unfair trade
The Unfair Commercial Practices Act (OHP) in the agricultural and food chain will come into effect on Monday 1 November. Farmers, among others, are given extra protection against larger parties in the chain as a result of this law, which should strengthen their negotiating position.
The Unfair Commercial Practices Act, among other things, always prohibits late payments and late cancellations, refusal of written contracts, unilateral amendments or retroactive changes to the contracts and terms and conditions by the customer. The aforementioned matters are on the so-called 'black list'. In addition, there is a 'grey list' of things that are prohibited, unless clearly stipulated in a contract beforehand. This list includes: return without compensation, charging a storage fee by the buyer or supplier who has to pay for advertising.
Not only farmers, market gardeners and fishermen can rely on the law as suppliers, but also other suppliers (meat processors, dairies and wholesalers) who supply the retail sector, as long as there is a relatively small supplier against a larger buyer. A supplier with a turnover of less than €2 million receives protection against a customer with a turnover greater than €2 million and this gradually increases to suppliers with a turnover between €150 and €350 million who enjoy protection against a customer with more than €350 million in turnover.
Report to ACM and soon the Disputes Committee
From 1 November, the law only applies to new contracts. As of April 15, 2022, all existing contracts must also comply with this new law. For the time being, complaints can only be submitted to the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM), but from 1 January 2022 also to the disputes committee that handles disputes between an individual supplier and customer.
If there is a justified complaint, ACM can address the customer, impose a fine and have the customer's behavior halted by, for example, a penalty. The Disputes Committee makes a binding decision about who is right and, unlike ACM, can also award damages.
Jurphaas Lugtenburg
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