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Berlin (dpa) - After months of dispute over considerable price pressure on food, the trade and the farmers' association are approaching each other.
The aim is to fundamentally improve cooperation in the supply chain, as the farmers' association, the German trade association and the Raiffeisen association announced on Tuesday.
A “coordination center” is planned as a common point to discuss conflicts and resolve them on a neutral level.
A voluntary joint "food code" is to be worked out together, which is to lay down rules of conduct and processes for dispute resolution.
Trade President Josef Sanktjohanser spoke of a "new beginning after the recurring escalations between agriculture and food retailing."
Farmers President Joachim Rukwied said that the farms urgently needed a perspective for better market conditions and for an appropriate reward for high standards of products.
Between farmers' representatives and the large supermarket chains, the dispute over ongoing low prices was recently heated up - also with protests at central retail stores.
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The focus should therefore initially be on fresh products such as milk, meat, eggs, poultry, fruit and vegetables.
Shared efficiencies should benefit all participants in the chain, and farmers in particular.
It is about better dialogue and about avoiding hardening of the fronts.
Current and anticipated hot spots should also be addressed - such as labeling of origin and husbandry of meat, regionalization, sustainability and climate change.
The jointly supported “Animal Welfare Initiative”, in which voluntarily participating farmers are rewarded for higher standards by the retail sector, should serve as a model for the new cooperation.
Here it was possible to implement concepts across companies and with all those involved in the chain and to resolve recognizable conflicts in the matter constructively in the process.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210302-99-653033 / 2
Joint declaration by the associations