Green light from the Antitrust on the Memorandum of Understanding of the dairy sector, signed on November 9th, for the protection of Italian farms. In its opinion, the Authority – according to what has been learned – underlines that the Protocol is aimed at providing “temporary support for the income of farmers in a situation of real emergency and a sharp rise in prices. The authority hopes that at the end of the duration of the agreement negotiation methods will be restored which, while respecting the need to guarantee adequate income for breeders, guarantee a correct competitive comparison ».
“The authority – it is learned – therefore believes that it is formulating an opinion that is not unfavorable to the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed by all the main operators of the dairy sector and within the duration limits established by this”. The authority – underlines the opinion – “has in the past repeatedly expressed its orientation contrary to the definition of inter-professional agreements that fix the sale price, reaffirming this position with specific reference to the dairy sector. In particular – finally reminds the Antitrust – on these occasions the authority expressed concern at the fact that the negotiation methods in Italy are still substantially based on the old logic of the inter-professional agreement, recalling how, as such, the negotiation methods they may be subject to specific assessment by the authority pursuant to antitrust legislation “.