Contractual relationships in the UK dairy industry

This consultation is in response to concerns raised that primary producers, including dairy farmers, tend to occupy positions of relative market weakness in the food supply chain. Consensus among agricultural producers in the UK is that unequal bargaining power with processors and retailers can expose farmers to unfair treatment, with the potential to undermine equitable price transmission along the chain. A number of other nations have introduced regulations in an attempt to stabilise markets and address systemic imbalances. In the European Union, thirteen member states including France and Spain have introduced laws on compulsory written milk contracts between farmers and processors. The Scottish Government recently published their analysis of the dairy supply chain and application of Mandatory Written Contracts (MWC) across the European Union, to evaluate the impact of the contracts where they have been adopted. Further afield, the Australian government has recently intr