S3P T&BD
Following the first announcement of the EU agri-food chain Observatory in March 2024 as one of the measures to strengthen the position of farmers in the food supply chain and reinforce the trust between all actors throughout the chain, the Observatory organized its first meeting last 17 July.
Its main objective is to better understand the functioning of the supply chain and bring increased transparency on prices, structure of costs, distribution of margins and added value, by respecting confidentiality and competition rules.
The Observatory gathers representatives from the 27 EU countries’ national authorities as well as from 48 stakeholder organisations operating within the agri-food supply chain. Additionally, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee have an observer status.
Janusz Wojciechowski, EU Commissioner for Agriculture, opened the Observatory’s inaugural meeting by recalling the objectives of the group and the work to come. Specifically, the Observatory’s mission is serving the purpose of advising the Commission and exchanging information and discuss, based on available evidence and facts about three key issues as previously described: the structure of costs, margins and the distribution of added value in the supply chain. Ultimately, the Observatory will aim to build trust between stakeholders and public authorities, in particular the Commission.
Wojciechowski spoke about other main tasks such as exchanging information and taking stock of the situation in the food supply chain and, in the medium term, developing methodologies to assess and monitor the structure of costs and the distribution of margins and added value along the chain.
Furthermore, an initial mapping of data available on prices, costs and added value was presented and members had a first exchange of views on the situation in the agri-food supply chain in the EU and in their country.
Agrifood chain Observatory members list: https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/expert-groups-register/screen/expert-groups/consult?lang=en&groupID=3949