The own brand represents 53% of the sales volume in retail stores in Romania, but only 43% is owned by Romanian producers, said Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Florin Barbu on Wednesday.
In this context, the MADR official proposed on Tuesday at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council - AgriFish in Brussels to limit the share of retailers' own brands to a maximum of 20% of the volume traded and to establish an identical commercial addition for the same range of products, regardless of whether they are own brand or national brand, according to Agerpres.
„In Romania, private labels represent somewhere around 53% of the sales volume in retail stores, of which 43% is the private label of Romanian manufacturers. The solution that we presented to the European Commission to amend Directive 633, which was also requested by France in 2025, was that everything in the product category should have the same commercial addition. In Romania, the liter of milk is somewhere around 4 lei, made by a Romanian producer, while the brand of the same producer is 9 lei. Who can explain this difference in price between own brand and Romanian brand?”said Barbu.
He believes that there should be the same commercial addition on the same product category. „Whether private label or national brand, all products should have the same mark-up. That is the right price both at the producer, retail and to the end consumer. I want the retail store to carry the Romanian brand and not the private label brand”, said the Minister of Agriculture.
It says unfair commercial practices must be eliminated.
„There must be no more unfair commercial practices whereby retail stores charge back, remittance and remission to Romanian producers. Re-invoicing has reached somewhere in the region of 251TPTP3T in the commercial relationship that processors have with Romanian retail stores. The discount must also be eliminated for agri-food products. Why? Because by discounting, processors sell below the cost of production”said the minister.
Limiting retailers' own brands to a maximum of 20% of the volume realized, as well as setting a similar or identical mark-up for the same range of products, are two of the measures proposed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin Barbu, at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council - AgriFish, held in Brussels.
The MADR official emphasized the need to set up additional instruments for a fair distribution of added value in the agri-food chain, in compliance with the rules of the single market and the principle of proportionality. At the same time, according to the Romanian official, fair access to the market for local producers is a priority for food security and economic diversity in the European Union.
A working meeting of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin Barbu, with pig farmers took place on Wednesday at the ministry's headquarters, in the presence of representatives of the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA) and the Competition Council.