This Friday 9 February in the afternoon, at the premises of the Federal Ministry of Economy, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture David Clarinval, together with his fellow ministers, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy Pierre-Yves Dermagne, and the State Secretary for Consumer Protection Alexia Bertrand, launched the work of the Agri-Food Task Force in response to the movement within the farming world. The regional agriculture ministers were also involved, and Minister Willy Borsus was present.
Alongside various agricultural professional associations, representatives of the processing sector and the distribution sector were also present.
This task force aims to address the questions and concerns of the various stakeholders regarding price formation across the entire agri-food chain. It will draw in particular on the distribution of costs along the chain between producers, processors and distributors, and on price setting. The aim is to work together on solutions that meet the demands of our farmers and other stakeholders in the chain, thereby ensuring the proper functioning of the markets.
The chair of the chain dialogue and each link in the chain had the opportunity to speak and present the solutions identified.
To introduce the discussions, a presentation was given on the EGALIM law in France and the Spanish law (value chain). The provisions of the UTP law concerning commercial practices in the agri-food sector were recalled.
The results of the current study by the Price Observatory on the evolution of prices and margins in the agri-food chain were also presented. Given the complexity of such a study and its limitations, caution is needed in interpreting it. For example, for the farming link, the income used does not take into account remuneration for family labour and owned land. It was therefore agreed to continue discussions to make it an even more useful tool for the stakeholders in the chain dialogue.
The proposal to introduce a “Fair Price Label”, which would involve stakeholders in assessing the “fair” nature of the price formation process across all parties, was also presented.
Based on today's discussions, the participants together set a work schedule so that the next meeting can examine concrete measures to be adopted. To ensure rapid results, it was decided that several specialised working groups would be tasked with analysing the mechanisms and measures in depth.
The following themes were identified for specific short-term meetings and will be the subject of a more in-depth analysis:
- Legal aspect on the existing legal mechanisms for contractualising commercial relations between the various links in the chain: UTP provisions, unfair practices and checks, selling at a loss
- Awareness campaign for local Belgian products
- Objectification of margin distribution following studies by the Price Observatory, carried out with the INR and the NBB. The statistical analyses will be made available to stakeholders.
David Clarinval, Minister for Agriculture: “This was a very important first meeting. I thank every participant for the constructive spirit shown in seeking short-term solutions that will nonetheless bring lasting solutions for everyone's income. I share the sense of urgency expressed by farmers today. We have taken matters into our own hands, for example at European level with the abandonment of fallow land requirements and the phytosanitary plan. At federal level today, we have drawn up a list of 15 measures that represent concrete progress for farmers. The regions have also announced that they will set up their working group on administrative simplification.”