[6 December] NEW YORK - Concentration in the agrifood sector has been increasing over the past few years, with sometimes tragic consequences for small-scale farmers and agricultural workers.
In this new briefing note, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food explores how the creation and abuse of dominant buyer power by global agribusiness firms can be addressed in competition law, and how developed and developing States can work together in this way.
Commodity buyers, food processors and retailers occupy strategic positions in the global food chains. If left unchecked, their power may lead to depress prices that food producers at the bottom of those chains receive for their produce.
The note shows that global food supply chains will contribute significantly to the reduction of rural poverty only to the extent that such abuses are effectively combated through competition law regimes that are designed to be consistent with the obligation of States to protect the right to adequate food.
| ReadPDF | “Addressing Concentration in Food Supply Chains. The Role of Competition Law in Tackling the Abuse of Buyer Power”, Briefing note by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, December 2010 |