Small producers, small-, medium sized enterprises to be protected by law against unfair practices in Moldova

Chisinau, 29 June /MOLDPRES/ - The small producers and the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be protected under law against unfair commercial practices. The cabinet of ministers today approved a draft law which provides for the banning of practices which infringe the good commercial conduct, are contrary to the equitable ways and are imposed unilaterally.  

According to the government’s communication and protocol department, the unfair commercial practices often appear in the chain of supply with food products and can be harmful, mainly, for the smaller entrepreneurs, such as agricultural producers and SME’s processing food products. Thus, the document approved is meant to facilitate the negotiations between providers of farming goods and food products (producers, processors) and buyers (shops), which provide these products to end consumers. The law will protect the small producers from abusive clauses and will facilitate their access to the placement of production in commercial networks from all over Moldova.    

In this respect, under the legislation, the buyer cannot impose to the producer the condition to deliver the products to all shops it holds and a certain shop has no right to ban the producer from delivering the same products to other networks/shops and vice versa. Also, the shop has no right to ask for the cancellation or replacement of orders of perishable farming goods or food products in a term shorter than 30 days and the unilateral change of the contracts on supply of farming and food products is banned, if the clauses regard the volume of supply of products, conditions of payment and quality standards.       

Photo: Government