Minister McConalogue announces the formal establishment of An Rialálaí Agraibhia (The Agri-Food Regulator)
- Published on: 13 December 2023
- Last updated on: 31 January 2024
The Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has today formally established An Rialálaí Agraibhia - The Agri-Food Regulator under the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023.
The establishment of the Regulator fulfils a major commitment in the Programme for Government to establish a new independent authority to bring fairness and transparency to the agricultural and food supply chain.
Speaking at its launch Minister McConalogue said:
“This is a major landmark in the history of Ireland’s Agri food sector. I have long advocated for the establishment of this independent authority, and it is a great personal privilege for me, as Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, to have brought this from its introductory legislation and to be here today on its establishment day. This fulfils a significant commitment in the Programme for Government and one of my priorities during my time in office as Minister.
“I again acknowledge the widespread support on all sides in the Houses of the Oireachtas for the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023. I have no doubt that the establishment of the Regulator will protect our Agri-food suppliers, in particular, our farmers, fishers and small food businesses, from unlawful and unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain and will bring greater transparency to the Agri Food sector. They will do this by publishing analysis of information about price and market data relating to the agricultural and food supply chain and enforcing the rules on unfair trading practices.”
Today also marked the first meeting of the Board of the new Regulator at its new HQ on the government campus in Backweston in Co. Kildare. Minister McConalogue previously announced that he has appointed Mr Joe Healy as the Chairperson and seven ordinary members to the Board.
Commenting on this the Minister said:
"In appointing Mr. Joe Healy as Chair of the Board as well as the other seven Members, I am confident the Board and the CEO Niamh Lenehan have the depth and breadth of experience to make the Agri Food Regulator the successful organisation we all want it to be. This boards brings a strong and diverse skillset from across the agri-food sector and beyond to lead this very important Agency."
Commenting on his appointment as Chairperson Mr. Joe Healy said:
“I am delighted to be appointed as Chairperson of the new Agri-Food Regulator today by Minister McConalogue. It is so important that this independent Regulator is in place to promote fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain and in particular to have regard to the circumstances and needs of farming, fishing and small food businesses. I look forward to working with both my Board colleagues and the CEO of the Regulator, Niamh Lenehan, to deliver on our mandate.”
Commenting on her formal appointment as CEO of the Regulator after serving since May as CEO-designate, Niamh Lenehan said:
“I very much look forward to sharing the journey ahead with the Board, staff and stakeholders with an immediate focus on the delivery of a statement of strategy and associated workplan underpinned by the powers and functions assigned to the Regulator under the 2023 Act.”
Minister McConalogue also announced that he has introduced new regulations to coincide with the establishment of An Rialálaí Agraibhia replacing the 2021 Regulations introduced under SI 198 of 2021 (European Union (Unfair Trading Practices in the agricultural and food supply chain) Regulations 2021. The new Regulations are necessary to take account of provisions in the Agricultural and Supply Chain Act 2023 relating to the transfer of UTP enforcement functions to the Regulator.
In concluding, Minister Mc Conalogue said:
“The establishment of the Agri-food Regulator to-day is the start of a journey towards increased fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain. I wish An Rialálaí Agraibhia every success for the future."
The work of the Office can be followed through its website in addition to social media channels.
Caption: Niamh Lenehan, CEO, AgriFood Regulator, Minister Charlie McConalogue, Joe Healy, Chairperson, AgriFood Regulator.
Notes
The Chairperson and members were selected following a competition held by the State Boards Appointments service.
The Minister brought forward the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022 in line with the Programme for Government commitment to establish a new authority to ensure fairness, equity, and transparency in the food chain. The Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023 provides for the establishment of a new independent statutory Authority to be known as ‘An Rialálaí Agraibhia’ (Agri-Food Regulator).
An Rialálaí Agraibhia will promote the principles of fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain by performing a price / market analysis and reporting function and will become the State’s designated enforcement authority for enforcing the rules on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain. The functions of enforcement of Unfair Trading Practices currently being implemented on an interim basis in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will move to An Rialálaí Agraibhia.
Website of An Rialálaí Agraibhia: www.agrifoodregulator.ie
Secondary legislation
The existing SI 198 of 2021 lists the 16 UTPs without change to those in the UTP Directive 2019/633. It is necessary introduce new regulations for the purpose of provisions in the Agricultural and Supply Chain Act 2023. The same UTPs as those in SI 198 of 2021 are unchanged in the new regulations in SI 625 of 2023.
Directive 2019/633 provided for a 'step' approach to setting the scope of suppliers and buyers for complaint purposes: suppliers and buyers were categorized depending on their annual turnover up to a minimum €2 million for buyers and a maximum €350 million for suppliers. This meant that there were categories of suppliers and buyers and complaints could be made by suppliers depending on what turnover category they were and depending on whether the buyer was in the same turnover category or a different turnover category e.g. suppliers with a max turnover of between €2 million and €10 million could not make a complaint against a buyer whose turnover level also fell into that category.
The turnover category classification in the regulations has been changed to provide for the turnover of the buyer to be higher than €2 million and higher than that of the supplier.
In addition, Part 3 of the new regulations outline new compliance reporting requirements for buyers with an annual turnover of more than €50 million. The UTP Enforcement Authority in the DAFM has sought compliance reports on a voluntary basis from buyers. The regulations provide that it will be obligatory for such buyers to submit an annual compliance report to the Regulator.