Romania's Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu proposed the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AgriFish) meeting in Brussels on February 23 several measures to curb unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, the Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Barbu called for capping retailers' private-label products at 20% of their sales volume, as well as setting similar or identical commercial mark-ups for the same product categories. He argued that, despite improvements brought by Directive 633/2019 against unfair trading practices, farmers are still affected by certain practices such as re-invoicing, imposed rebates and discounts, limited shelf access, and the excessive expansion of retailers' own brands, agerpres.
Barbu also proposed eliminating abusive rebates, banning re-invoicing, and clearly regulating discounts to prevent below-cost sales.
The minister emphasized the need for additional tools to ensure a fair distribution of added value along the agri-food chain, while safeguarding the single market. Ensuring fair market access for local producers, he said, is essential for the EU's food security and economic diversity.
"Introducing these measures is essential to rebalance the market and help our producers and farmers access shelf space in major retail chains," Barbu said.
He also highlighted the difficult situation of the pork sector in Romania and across the EU, hit by sharp price drops for carcasses and live pigs since October 2025. China's import tariffs on EU pork, export restrictions linked to African swine fever, and the refusal of third countries to accept regionalisation are among the main causes, he said.
Romania has asked the European Commission for exceptional aid for pig farmers, noting that losses amount to 35 - 40 per animal.
According to the Ministry, Romania continues to advocate at AgriFish Council meetings for measures that protect farmers' viability and strengthen food security.
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