News Milk
Dairy farmers: payment to ZuivelNL under discussion
Suppliers of Lactalis Leerdammer, but also of other dairies, question the legality of the contribution they have to pay to ZuivelNL. They wonder whether the contribution is not in conflict with the Unfair Commercial Practices Act.
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ZuivelNL confirms that questions have been received about this. Director Hubert Andela states that the matter has been investigated and legal advice has also been obtained. On this basis, it is estimated that the collection of the contribution from dairy farmers (5 cents per 100 kilos of milk) is probably not a violation of the aforementioned law.
ZuivelNL cites two considerations for this. Firstly, it concerns a relatively small contribution, a percentage of the price per 100 kilos. In addition, the proceeds are spent on goals that should advance dairy farming, such as quality improvement. The thinking goes that unfair commercial practices usually concern issues in which, for example, small parties are disproportionately taxed or outright duped by large purchasing parties.
No AVV is the basis for contributions
Whether the arrangement is ACM-proof, or whether the judge will agree with ZuivelNL in any legal proceedings or not, is not known in advance. The levy requested from dairy farmers is not based on a General Binding Declaration (AVV), as is the case with other trade organizations. The contribution is collected on the basis of private arrangements, by the Dutch Dairy Organization (NZO), which then passes the money on to ZuivelNL. The thirteen NZO members also contribute 2 cents per 100 kilos of milk.