The Agri-Food Regulator will host an information session webinar for agri-food product businesses later this month.

The webinar will be held on February 26 at 11:00a.m.

The regulator said that the information session will "unpack what it means to promote fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain".

The webinar will focus on unfair trading regulations; the requirement to submit an annual compliance report; transparency initiatives, including the price and market interactive dashboard report; and preparing for data collection.

The regulator described the webinar as an "excellent opportunity for all agri-food product businesses along the supply chain to learn more about the work of the regulator".

The webinar will feature remarks from Agri-Food Regulator CEO Niamh Lenehan, as well as the head of the regulator's unfair trading practices and price and market data units.

Attendees for the webinar will be required to register in advance.

Supplier survey

The Agri-Food Regulator's annual supplier survey closes this week.

The survey of agri-food product suppliers to the retail and wholesale sector will close this Wednesday (February 18).

The regulator is seeking feedback from the producers and manufacturers of food and drink product, as well as suppliers of plants and flowers to eight specific buyer businesses about their trading experiences over the last 12 months.

Those eight buyer businesses are Aldi Ireland, BWG Foods (which operates several retailers), Dunnes Stores, Lidl Ireland, Marks and Spencer Ireland, Musgrave Group (which operates SuperValu and Centra), Sysco Ireland, and Tesco Ireland.

The regulator said that the findings of the survey have a practical benefit for suppliers as the information provided assists the regulator in the development of awareness campaigns; helps informs the process of risk-based inspections, and will also be used to support the development of buyer guidelines.

The survey is anonymous and confidential, and buyers will never be made aware of the suppliers who have completed the survey, the regulator said.

Legal advisory role

The Agri-Food Regulator is also recruiting a head of legal and research as part of a new unit that will combine legal advisory and research functions during the organisations current phase of growth.

The successful candidate will report to the CEO and will be a member of the senior management team that currently comprises the CEO and heads of the three existing units.

The role will be based at the regulator's office at the Backweston Campus in Celbridge, Co. Kildare.

The closing date for applications for the role is March 2.