Identifying Business-to-Business Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Supply Chain: The case of Cyprus

Abstract

Unfair Trading Practices (UTPs) between businesses in the food supply chain have a significant impact on the various stakeholders involved, and on the environment. So far, no attempt has been made at the Member State level for the identification of UTPs in the food supply chain and their impact on the relevant stakeholders. This study drew on this gap and attempted to identify the UTPs that exist in the Cypriot food supply chain, assess their impact on the involved stakeholders and provide guidelines that will assist the transposition of EU relevant Directive to the national law. To achieve this goal, the study was based on a quantitative survey of a representative sample of businesses using a specific questionnaire. The results showed that particular UTPs do appear in the food supply chain with a different frequency, while the majority of businesses have been victims of UTPs in the last five years. Notably, the estimated cost of UTPs as a percentage of the business annual turnover is considered important ranging from 5.7% for retailers to 31.9% for farmers. Thus, most participants agree that UTPs in the agricultural food sector should be regulated by national legislation. We argue that the national legislation for UTPs should be a mix of policies that integrate private, administrative and judicial methods of monitoring and enforcement. Policy and decision makers should seek to reinforce the role and the bargaining power of small businesses in the food supply chain. This might be accomplished through the development of efficient producers’ organizations, short food supply chains, interbranch organizations and strategic partnerships.

Impact of unfair purchasing policies on the retail price

“…To confirm the accuracy of the terminology used in this paper, the work of Markou et al (2020), Blizkovsky and Brendes (2017), and Swinnen et al ( 2019) is acknowledged concerning unfair trade practices and prices in the EU. This paper presents the second regulation segment related to primary agricultural production.…”

“…The problem has already been addressed by Markou et al (2020), whose quantitative study conducted in Cyprus shows that the impact of costs incurred due to unfair trade practices represents 32% of the income of the injured parties. Moreover, most respondents have been victims of unfair trade practices in the last five years and expect legislation to protect them.…”

Addressing Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture: Adaptation Measures For Six Crops in Cyprus

“…Even though the selection of the above adaptation options was the result of an evaluation process based on the subjective judgement of experts, this approach, besides any limitations, remains a pragmatic and fast way of assessing complex phenomena [61,62], such as the one presented in this article (viz. climate change adaptation in a cross-sectional study).…”

Case Studies on Sustainability-Oriented Innovations and Smart Farming Technologies in the Wine Industry: A Comparative Analysis of Pilots in Cyprus and Italy

“…The Cypriot agricultural sector is relatively small, accounting for merely 2% of the Gross Domestic Product, yet highly diversified, with a large number of different crops, such as rainfed cereals, fodder crops, vegetables, potatoes, citrus, vines, olives, nuts, and fruit trees [22]. Ancillary production includes dairy products, such as halloumi cheese, and grape products, such as local wines [23]. It is worth mentioning that, due to its small size, the Cypriot agricultural sector is not able to compete with countries that typically produce large volumes at low cost; therefore, Cyprus is primarily focused on the production of highquality products [22], such as wines made from indigenous grape varieties [24].…”