The «Unfair Trading Practices in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Law of 2021» was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus and entered into force on 29/12/2021. The «Unfair Trading Practices in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain (Amendment) Law of 2023» was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cyprus and entered into force on 02/06/2023. These two Laws must be mentioned together as the «Unfair Trading Practices in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Laws of 2021 and 2023».
The Laws are harmonizing the EU Directive 2019/633/EE, and are expected to help tackle unfair trading practices in the agricultural and food supply chain in the Republic of Cyprus as well as eliminate unfair treatment of farmers and traders in the agricultural and food supply chain and protect consumers.
The laws protect all suppliers of agricultural and food products operating in the EU but also suppliers in third countries who trade with buyers in the EU.
The Competent Authority for the implementation of the above Laws is the Department of Agriculture. In accordance with the provisions of the Laws, 13 unfair commercial practices are prohibited for the products listed in Annex I of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as well as products processed for use as food using products of Annex I. Furthermore, the Laws prohibit 6 more practices for all fruit and vegetables listed in Part IX οf Annex I of Regulation (EU) 1308/2013, while for the rest of the agricultural and food products the Laws prohibit these practices only in the cases where no prior agreements were concluded with clear and indisputable/unambiguous terms.
The Competent Authority acts voluntarily (ex-officio) or after a complaint is submitted and it carries out on-site inspection in order to detect any infringement of the laws. In cases of infringements, the Competent Authority has the right to impose an administrative fine of up to 5% of the turnover (of the buyer) of the immediately preceding year. In case of continuation of the violation, the Competent Authority has the right to impose an administrative fine of up to two thousand euros (€2000) for each day of continuation of the violation.
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