Notify UOKiK of unfair practices by retail chain stores

28.03.2024

Are you a supplier of agri-food products and have experienced unfair practices by a retail chain? Let us know!
Fill out the survey that UOKiK sent to your trade organization.
We guarantee full anonymity

The President of UOKiK, as part of its competencies related to combating the unfair use of contractual advantages in the agri-food sector, investigates, among other things, the relationships of retail chain stores with product suppliers. So far, he has issued six decisions imposing fines of more than a billion zlotys on retail chains stores.

- In the course of our activities, information obtained directly from the aggrieved entities has always been very important. Therefore, we have decided to create an anonymous survey which we have sent to organizations of agri-food suppliers. We encourage entrepreneurs and farmers to fill them out and inform us about unfair practices of retail chain stores” - says the President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny.

UOKiK’s survey

The statutory role of organizations of agri-food producers is to act in the interests of their members - food producers. That is why cooperation with industry unions is very important in identifying unfair use of contractual advantages by retail chain stores. The organizations have repeatedly submitted notices that have formed the basis for the President of the Authority's intervention in cases of unfair fees, discounts and other practices. UOKIK’s experience also shows that often individual food producers do not report unfair practices because they are afraid of severing relationships with retail chain stores. Therefore, in addition to anonymity, the possibility of sending a survey through an industry organization will encourage contact with the Authority. Among other things, the survey identifies specific practices that may have constituted unfair use of contractual advantage and asks whether they were used against suppliers. The full form is available on our website.

At the same time, we would like to inform you that the European Commission has also conducted its survey as part of its monitoring of unfair practices. Among other things, the survey examined stakeholders' knowledge of what practices are considered unfair, where in their country to complain about unfair trade practices and assesses the effectiveness of national authorities.

The EC's goal was to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken by member states in implementing the Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair business-to-business commercial practices in the supply chain of agricultural and food products. In 2025 the Commission is expected to present a first assessment of the effects of the regulations, which may also include legislative proposals.

Examples of decisions of the President of UOKiK on retail chain stores

One of the first decisions of the President of UOKiK on unfair use of contractual advantage in 2020 a decision was issued for Jeronimo Martins Polska - owner of the Biedronka retail chain stores. The company imposed unfair discounts on its contractors. In 2021, the President of UOKiK issued decisions pertaining to Eurocash. The enterprise charged suppliers of agricultural and food products a number of additional and unjustified fees. Some of the services paid for by the counterparties were not performed at all while some should have been provided by the company under the signed agreement without additional remuneration. In the same year, a decision was issued on Kaufland Poland Markets practices. The company required suppliers to reduce the price of agricultural and food products after they had already been sold. In his another decision, the President of UOKiK obliged the company SCA PR, responsible for purchasing at the Intermarche chain, to change practices unfavorable to suppliers of agri-food products. The challenged practices concerned the establishment of the rules of cooperation during its term and obtaining discounts despite failure to meet the conditions stipulated in the agreement. As a result of the actions taken, the company will amend the agreements and will give back the unfairly collected discounts to the contractors. In turn, at the end of 2023 the President of UOKiK issued a decision regarding Auchan Polska. He considered it unfair to charge suppliers of agri-food items for transporting products from central warehouses to Auchan chain stores. For this practice, the President of UOKiK imposed a fine of more than PLN 87 million.