Fifty-nine food companies have been sanctioned for 69 irregularities in the payment to farmers and ranchers. Among those fined are large distributors such as Carrefour, Dia, Froiz or García Carrión, among others, who have received a notification from the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA), an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, for failing to comply the law of the food chain. These are the first sanctions since the entry into force of this regulation.
The first list of fines for serious and very serious breaches of the food chain law contemplates fines of different amounts, lesser though, for non-compliance with payment terms to producers and suppliers, for the non-existence of written contracts or for the non-inclusion of the price in said agreements.
In this sense, Carrefour and Froiz have been fined 3,001 euros for breaching the aforementioned payment terms. Dia, for her part, has been fined in two files for failing to meet payment deadlines. The amount amounts to 3,001 euros and 3,899.12 euros, respectively.
The J. García Carrión group, for its part, has been fined 9,147.81 euros for also failing to meet payment deadlines. PSOE sources highlighted today the visit of the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, to the wineries of this company in Daimiel after learning of the sanction.
In the list of those sanctioned, the fine to Ray Lech stands out, a company specialized in the wholesale sale of dairy products, eggs, oils and edible fats, which has been fined 11,500 euros for breaching food contracts and for not incorporating in the same the price of the operations and, in turn, with a penalty of 3,001 euros for failing to meet the payment terms to their suppliers.
Pistachios de la Mancha has received two sanctions, one of 10,449.24 euros for non-compliance with payment terms and another of 3,001 euros for not formalizing food contracts in writing. Y Transformaciones Agrícolas de Badajoz (Transa) has received a notification of 7,558.75 euros for non-compliance with payment terms, while Inleit Ingredients has been fined 9,000 euros for making changes to the price included in the contract that are not expressly agreed for the parties
The sanctions come in full internal debate in the Government for the recipes to be applied to lower food prices. Minister Planas has insisted on asking consumers for patience so that the approved measures, such as the VAT reduction on basic necessities, the 200-euro check or the aforementioned law on the food chain, take effect. Unidas Podemos continues to insist on setting maximum prices, an option defended by Yolanda Díaz, or on a 14% discount on the final ticket, a proposal raised by Podemos.
