ICMSA welcomes increased powers for agri-food regulator
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) has "cautiously welcomed" the government's decision to provide additional powers to the Agri-Food Regulator.
Denis Drennan, president of the ICMSA, also expressed hope that the proposed changes will lift the lid on who is getting what from the final consumer price.
Drennan said that farmers have been critically undermined by the links further up the supply chain at critical times, and that successive governments and the EU have allowed this to happen.
According to the ICMSA president, "everything goes up when markets are good, whether it is wages, bonuses, or general costs".
"Only the primary producer price goes down in the downturn, and that the additional cost incurred in the upturn must also be catered for.
"Farmers for too long have been used as the "risk management and profit management tool and it cannot continue" he added.
Additional powers
Drennan added that it is essential that the proposed additional powers for the regulator delivers improved transparency along the food supply chain and will "let people see who is getting what".
"It is quite clear from Teagasc and other analysis that farmers have been working with unsustainable margins for decades," he said.
He added that the success of the measure for the regulator will depend on what is in the legislation, and stated that "ICMSA has concerns in this regard".
The chief executive of the Agri-Food Regulator Niamh Lenehan will be addressing ICMSA’s National Council on Thursday (December 18), Drennan said.
The ICMSA president expressed deep concern that the regulator will only be allowed to request product data once in a 12-month period.
He stated that farmers expected to provide real time data to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine almost on a daily basis, while "no effort is made to reduce the administrative burden on them".
According to Drennan: "The 12-month rule is an obvious weakness in the government decision and it needs to be addressed and the regulations should be introduced immediately, not pushed a year down the road.
"The regulator must deliver for farmers and people need to know the real cost of producing food at farm level, which has been under-priced for too long to the detriment of the primary producer," the ICMSA president added.
