Strengthening Bulgarian agricultural production, overcoming fragmentation in the sector and improving the market positions of producers are among the main prerequisites for sustainable development of the food market and limiting pressure on prices in the long term. This was stated by the Chairman of the Commission for Protection of Competition, Assoc. Prof. Rosen Karadimov, when presenting a draft of Guidelines for cooperation in the agricultural sector to the Public Council of the CPC.
The Public Council includes representatives of nationally recognized employer organizations – The Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Industrial Chamber, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, the two national trade unions - the Confederation of Bulgarian Industrialists and Employers' Unions and the Confederation of "Podkrepa", the Bulgarian National Association "Active Consumers", as well as experts.
The guidelines were developed as a result of the findings of the sectoral analysis of the food market, which identified serious structural problems, including fragmentation of production and inequality in the market positions of participants in the supply chain.
Within its powers, the CPC takes consistent actions aimed both at preventing and establishing distortions of competition and at creating conditions for more efficient functioning of the markets.
The guidelines developed by the CPC explain the opportunities that European legislation provides for cooperation and collaboration between agricultural producers while complying with competition rules. The aim is to support their efforts to pool resources, reduce costs, better organize production and sales, as well as to strengthen their positions in negotiations with large buyers.
One of the significant problems that the sector analysis identified is the inequality between agricultural producers and large retail chains. “When production is highly fragmented, individual farmers have limited opportunities to defend their economic interests. Cooperation is one of the mechanisms for overcoming this weakness. Our task is to show how these opportunities can be used within the framework of competition law“, pointed out the Chairman of the CPC.
The guidelines present the applicable European rules and the special regimes that allow certain forms of cooperation in the agricultural sector. The document also explains the restrictions that ensure that cooperation will not be used to conceal anti-competitive agreements and practices.
The draft also addresses cooperation between individual farmers, within producer organizations and between participants at different stages of the supply chain. It explains the conditions under which organizations can plan production, offer products to their members and negotiate supplies, including at a uniform price for the products covered.
Assoc. Prof. Karadimov called on the members of the Public Council to send their opinions and recommendations on the draft guidelines, stating that a broad public discussion with all stakeholders in the sector is forthcoming. The representatives of the Public Council welcomed the consistent actions of the Commission and supported its efforts for sustainable development of the food market.