DBV, the German Farmers Association, welcomes the expansion of the protection area in order to implement the EU Directive against Unfair Commercial Practices in the Food Chain (UTP).

Today the Bundestag, the German Government, will approve the Law amending the Agricultural Market Structure Law with significant improvements. “For agriculture, the expansion of the protected area beyond the original sales volume of 350 million euros is an important and positive sign. This means that a large part of the marketing and processing operations supported by farmers are included in the scope of protection of the regulation ”, emphasizes the Secretary General of the German Association of Farmers, Bernhard Krüsken.

This expansion was initially introduced for a limited period and limited to May 1, 2025 for major product areas. "However, protection against unfair trade practices must be permanently and comprehensively applied to all, regardless of the size of the respective actors in the food supply chain," Krüsken said.

The DBV also appreciates that the repeated collection of listing fees has also been transferred to the so-called black list, as a generally unacceptable practice, even after the market launch has already taken place. The Federal Office of Agriculture (BLE), as the enforcement authority responsible for implementing and monitoring the regulation, should now be able to work quickly this year.

"With the establishment of an evaluation of the law after 2 years, its effectiveness, the expiration and limitation of the extended protection area and, if necessary, an expansion of the list of prohibited unfair commercial practices should be verified. In addition to this regulation, the extension of the antitrust privileges of the producer side must remain on the agenda of the next legislature, so that the food chain can act in a sustainable and permanent way on an equal footing ", they sentence from DBV.