The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024听have only recently come into force. More than a decade听on from the SoS听Dairy听Campaign and after years of intense campaigning from the UK farming unions听calling out听unfair practices and abuses of power in the听dairy听supply chain, these regulations introduce hard won safeguards.
The new regulations, following full consultation with the dairy sector, are designed to ensure fair and transparent听contracts听for all dairy听farmers by stopping听contract听changes being imposed without agreement.
It鈥檚 understood the听potential听changes relate to exclusivity and the听unintended consequences of the tiered pricing provisions within the regulations.听
The UK farming unions said: 鈥淗istorically, contracts have allowed milk buyers to have complete discretion over the price paid for milk and exclusivity over all of the milk produced on a dairy farm.听
鈥淎 cornerstone of the new legislation was designed to sever this control over both price and volume, allowing a dairy farmer access to a non-exclusive agreement enabling them to be able to market some of their milk elsewhere when it is not desired by the primary purchaser.
鈥淲e understand government听is proposing听to change this to allow for a听specific听interpretation听of tiered pricing听that encompasses both a听price bonus and penalty linked to seasonal milk volumes 鈥� this would听effectively allow the milk buyer to discount certain litres of a farm鈥檚 milk, even where a contract is exclusive.
鈥淭he UK farming unions have always believed that the ability for milk buyers to control both price and volumes of milk on a dairy farm should be separated. We cannot see any reason why anyone would object to a farmer being free to market their excess milk to a third party should their primary purchaser be discounting it.
鈥淲e share the Food Security Minister's desire to improve fairness in the dairy supply chain, but these proposed changes would act against the best interests of dairy farmers.听 That is why we have written to him seeking further clarification and a proposed solution听without delay.鈥�
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