Unfair trading practices in agri-food supply chains: update and outlook for non-EU suppliers

Over the past months, COLEAD, through its programmes FFM+ and AGRINFO, has been actively contributing to ensuring fairness in global supply chains, including those in ACP countries, by addressing Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs). This news provides an update on the legislative state of play and on COLEAD’s activities related to this important issue.

What are UTPs?

The stark imbalances between small and large operators in the agricultural and food supply chain can lead to UTPs in business-to-business relationships where farmers and small operators do not have sufficient bargaining power to defend themselves. These practices “grossly deviate from good commercial conduct, that are contrary to good faith and fair dealing and that are unilaterally imposed by one trading partner on another.” (EU definition in Art. 1 (1) Directive 2019/633).

EU rules against UTPs

Against this background, the European Union (EU) aims to strengthen the position of farmers and small and medium sized businesses in agri-food supply chains.

Since 2022, the UTP Directive (2019/633) bans 16 unfair trading practices that are classified between: black and grey practices:

• black UTPs: are never allowed
• grey UTPs: are allowed if the supplier and the buyer agree on them beforehand.

 These bans apply to suppliers located outside the EU if the buyers are located within the EU.

Since the adoption of the UTP Directive, the European Commission has carried out several annual surveys of food chain operators’ experiences regarding UTPs. AGRINFO has reported on them in this record.

=> Based on these evaluations and political answer to farmers’ protest (cf. EU Vision for Agriculture and Food 2025-2040), the European Commission intends to review the rules against UTPs (proposal to be finalised for Q3 2026).

A call for evidence and a public consultation are planned for Q4 2025 – Q1 2026.

• This will be an opportunity for non-EU suppliers to share their experiences.
• However, suppliers might refrain from communicating on UTPs they experience fear of commercial retaliations. This is an area where COLEAD has a key role to play in collecting feedback and sharing it while preserving the anonymity of the suppliers.

In December 2024, the European Commission proposed new rules to strengthen cross-border cooperation among European enforcement authorities on UTPs. These rules aim at complementing the UTP Directive by setting a framework for cooperation between enforcement authorities of different EU Member States where UTPs involve suppliers and buyers in different countries. This was also an opportunity to call for more effective protection against UTPs for non-EU suppliers.

COLEAD’s action

COLEAD is part of a Coalition that works towards ensuring that non-EU suppliers benefit from the protection against UTPs provided by EU rules.

As part of this Coalition, COLEAD recently:

• Signed the position paper on the evaluation of UTP Directive (October 2024)
• Responded to the call for feedback on the proposal for a Regulation on cross-border enforcement of the UTP Directive (March 2025)
• Proposed amendments to the proposal for the cross-border enforcement Regulation (May 2025)
• Signed a joint statement warning about the exclusion of non-EU suppliers following the vote by the AGRI Committee at the EU Parliament on the proposed cross-border enforcement (July 2025).

These activities have led to some achievements, the latest being the rewording of the definition of “unfair trading practice with a cross-border dimension” in the final text adopted the EU Parliament. While the initial definition excluded non-EU suppliers from the definition, the agreed version includes the case where “one supplier or buyer that is located within the Union and one supplier or buyer that is located outside the Union”. The final text will be discussed in upcoming negotiations between the EU policy makers (EU Parliament and EU Member States).

Way forward

The next important step is the Q4 2025 – Q& 2026 public consultation to feed the revision of the UTP Directive.

• This will be an opportunity to ask EU lawmakers to ban the practice of buying below the cost of sustainable production as a black UTP.

The adoption of the cross-border enforcement Regulation is expected for 2026.

More information on the topic of UTPs will be shared regularly. Stay connected!

This activity is supported by the Fit For Market Plus (FFM+) programme, implemented by COLEAD within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union; and by the AGRINFO programme, implemented by COLEAD and funded by the European Union (EU). This publication receives financial support from the European Union and the OACPS. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the OACPS.