Czech Senate saves Polish food producers
22:32
Polish food exporters can rub their hands. The regulations which give domestic producers a privileged position on the Czech market are likely to collapse.
Czech MPs adopted a bill in January this year, which requires that, from 2022, larger grocery stores (over 400 sq m) must sell at least 55 percent of native products. In the following years, the limit was to increase to 73 percent in six years.
The regulation concerns about a hundred goods, incl. meat, dairy products, vegetables, and fruit, i.e. what Polish companies often send to the Czech Republic. The act called the "Czech Shelves Act", hits our exporters, and puts Czech producers in a privileged position, including primarily the agri-food concern Agrofert, owned by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
However, the rules introducing limits did not appeal to the upper house of the Czech parliament.
"The project is not only contrary to EU legislation, but also to the interests of Czech citizens, as it will make everything more expensive," Pavel Fischer, independent senator, argued.
Zdeněk Nytra from ODS even called the provisions logical nonsense. Many MPs also used the word "rubbish" during the discussion on Thursday.
