• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has initiated proceedings against Agri Plus, an organiser of contract hog finishing.
• The company is reducing the remuneration due to farmers by the amount of public aid granted to them for the lowered income generated from ASF zones.
• Such action may constitute unfair use of contractual advantage.

Pig farmers from regions subjected to restrictions related to the eradication of African swine fever (ASF) may receive aid to compensate for the lowered income. Compensation is due to micro, small and medium-sized entities, while large companies are not entitled to it.

The President of UOKiK initiated proceedings against Agri Plus, a member of the Smithfield Foods group. Information obtained from the Agency for the Development and Modernisation of Agriculture, and confirmed during the investigation and the inspection of the company's headquarters, shows that the entrepreneur's contracts with pig suppliers oblige them to pass on the financial aid received from the state, e.g. by reducing the price of the purchased pigs by the amount of the compensation. Between 2017 and 2020, this could have caused several million PLN to be collected from the suppliers. The findings of the President of UOKiK also indicate that the company was able to monitor which farmers received support and then reduce their remuneration.

"If our allegations are confirmed, it will mean that Agri Plus has become the actual beneficiary of public aid intended for farmers, although it was not entitled to it. This is an unacceptable activity which deprives the affected breeders of the compensation they are entitled to in connection with ASF. In the proceedings, we will examine whether the organiser of contract hog finishing is engaging in practices that make unfair use of contractual advantage. The entrepreneur faces a penalty of up to 3 per cent of the annual turnover," says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of UOKiK.

If you are a farmer or entrepreneur operating in the agri-food industry and your large contracting partner abuses its contractual advantage by imposing unfavourable terms of cooperation, please do not hesitate to notify UOKiK. We have prepared a special form to help you report any irregularities. Click here to fill it out: https://ankieta.uokik.gov.pl/formularz-zgloszenie-przewaga/.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL