From the beginning of the year, new rules promoting fair business relations will improve the position of small farms and producers vis-à-vis buyers.

The public interest in maintaining market competition for economic efficiency and social advancement, as well as the interests of businesses and consumers that comply with the requirements of business integrity require that the state ensure the purity and freedom of economic competition through legal regulations.

This requires the adoption of competition law provisions that prohibit market behavior that conflicts with the requirements of fair competition or that restricts economic competition, as well as prevent mergers of businesses that are detrimental to competition.

In relation to the prohibition of abuse of economic dominance, the starting point is that it is forbidden to abuse economic dominance, so in particular:

- to establish unfair purchase or sale prices in business relationships, or to stipulate an unjustified advantage in any other way, or to force the acceptance of disadvantageous conditions;
– to limit production, distribution or technical development to the detriment of final business partners;
- unreasonably refrain from establishing or maintaining a business relationship appropriate to the nature of the transaction;
- to influence the economic decisions of the other party for the purpose of obtaining an unjustified advantage;

Based on the law, economic dominance must be assessed in particular

- the costs and risks involved in entering and exiting the relevant market, as well as the technical, economic or legal conditions required;
- the property, financial and income situation of the enterprise or group of enterprises, as well as its development;
– the structure of the relevant market, the proportion of market shares, the behavior of market participants, and the economic influence of the enterprise or group of enterprises on the development of the market.

It is important to note that, based on the transparency provided by the legislation, the Ministry of Agriculture can take action against unfair grape purchase practices and, where appropriate, turn to the GVH, and initiate legislative amendments to protect producers and ensure the fair operation of the market.

From the beginning of the year, new rules promoting fair business relations will improve the position of small farms and producers vis-à-vis buyers, according to the announcement of the department.

Thanks to the package of laws passed by the Parliament last year, as of January 1, 2025, late payments by purchasers to farmers of more than 30 days will become sanctionable, and in certain cases, purchasers who do not pay producers will no longer be able to engage in acquisitions.

The intention of the Ministry of Agriculture is that the acquisition processes operate within clear rules that protect the position of the producers. Important components of the legal package are the provisions containing the mutual sharing of risks arising during production and performance. A new rule on the legal institution called producer cooperation, which is a voluntarily chosen form of cooperation based on the mutual economic interests of the producer and the producer, will also come into effect, according to the announcement of the Ministry of Agriculture.

While agriculture is a national issue everywhere, from France to Denmark to the Poles, the Hungarian opposition does not see it that way, so it is of particular importance that the national government, at the local and national level, with EU resource transfers, various tools for economic revitalization, predictable legal regulations and supports the agricultural sector with many additional tools.