Diederik Schrijvershof and Bas van Os successfully assisted Stichting Milieukeur ('SMK') at the ACM to obtain approval for the imposition of a mandatory supermarket sustainability fee for AGF growers.
SMK is responsible for the development and management of several certificates within the agricultural sector. Its most important hallmark is the On the way to PlanetProof certificate ('OPP Certificate'). The OPP Certificate is an international certificate that helps farmers, horticulturists and other companies work toward more sustainable production. SMK is now imposing on member supermarkets the mandatory payment of a sustainability fee to growers to compensate the additional costs they incur to meet the requirements of the OPP Certificate. For now, the fee is only mandatory for untreated potatoes, vegetables and fruits with the OPP Certificate. The fee will be set separately for each product category. The fee means that supermarkets participating in the OPP Certificate will pay a mandatory fee to growers for the additional costs incurred by growers to meet the sustainability requirements of the OPP Certificate.
SMK submitted a request for an informal opinion to the ACM for this change to its OPP certificate. Maverick Lawyers successfully assisted SMK in this process. The ACM indicated (Dutch) on May 6, 2024 that the new fee does not violate competition rules.
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