“The investigation must be confidential to allow producers and suppliers to air their frustrations freely without the threat of repercussion on the part of retailers. The investigation must take the form of specific polls regarding certain practices that may be considered abusive, such as taxes for invoices, store access taxes, shelf taxes, opening taxes for new stores, catalogue taxes, promotion taxes,” employers and unions in the food sector said in a press release.
The investigation is required by the Romanian Meat Association, the Association of producers in the Milk Industry, the National Vine and Wine Employers’ Association, the bread and bakery sector employers’ association Rompan, the Union Federation in the Food Industry and the federation of unions in agriculture Agrostar.
Representatives of the food industry said some of the claimed abusive practices refer to payments required by supermarkets from suppliers as a prerequisite for inclusion on the list of suppliers, financial contributions for the promotion of products, discounts granted in advance, compensations required when profits from sales are lower than estimated, payments to cover for lost products, contribution for the opening of new stores or demands for lower prices under the threat that products would not otherwise be accepted.
These practices of retail chains have led to price increase with the inclusion of all discounts and bonuses demanded from producers, the statement added.
Representatives of farmers in the food industry said supermarket abuse their power and impose contractual conditions that lower the producers’ profit significantly, lead to artificial price hikes and the bankruptcy of regular stores.
Employers and unions in the food industry and agriculture proposed the drafting of a Good Commercial Practices Code to arrest abuses on the part of retailers.