According to the sponsors, “the main goal of the draft law is to establish clear, fair, and transparent rules for the entire society, governing the relationships between participants in the supply chain of agricultural products and food, in order to ensure an environment of transparency in contracting, traceability of operations, and equality in relations among participants in the chain, which will lead to a proportional distribution of the added value based on fair competition.”
The draft law introduces minimum contract duration periods for the purchase of primary agricultural products, reflecting the length of the agricultural production cycle, prohibits certain contractual clauses in purchase agreements, and sets payment deadlines aimed at ensuring a fairer distribution of the added value for primary producers in the supply chain.
A definition is introduced for “first buyers” — those who are the buyers in the first wholesale sale of agricultural products from their producers. These first buyers must meet certain requirements and be registered in a public electronic registry of first buyers of agricultural products, maintained by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. This registry will allow access to information from other public registers and institutions.
Temporary measures are introduced to monitor the prices of agricultural products and food, including the publication of price lists on retailers’ websites and mandatory submission of price data for agricultural products and food during specified periods to the Commission for Consumer Protection. These measures are adopted by a decision of the Council of Ministers upon proposals from the Minister of Economy and Industry and the Minister of Agriculture and Food.
The draft law provides for the introduction of maximum commercial markups for participants in the supply chain such as processors, wholesale traders, and retail traders with turnover exceeding 20 million leva. These markups will be specified as concrete percentages calculated from the relevant value corresponding to the link in the supply chain where the transactions occur.
In sales of agricultural products and food, promotional discounts to the end consumer should not exceed 25% of the estimated annual volume under the contract between the supplier and the retailer and must be pre-agreed by the parties for the respective product. The promotional discount should be up to 10% of the previous price, with no more than half of it borne by the supplier. For purchases of agricultural products and food between suppliers and retailers, services related to marketing, advertising, logistics, and other promotional services may not exceed 10% of the total purchase price on an annual basis for the respective product.
Specific assortment requirements are introduced for retail food chains operating 10 or more retail outlets nationwide. At least 50% of the entire assortment of food products from the following groups — fresh meat from large and small ruminants, pigs, and poultry; eggs; honey; fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables — must be from Bulgarian agricultural producers or processors. For products such as yogurt, fresh milk, cow cheese, sheep cheese, buffalo cheese, goat cheese, and curd cheese, the quantities produced entirely from Bulgarian raw milk from agricultural producers and/or processors registered under the Law on Support for Agricultural Producers and/or the Food Law must be no less than 80% of their total assortment.
