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On Wednesday, 21 October, AmCham EU met with Pierre Bascou, Director for Sustainability and Income Support, Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission, to discuss the revision of the EU’s Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Directive. The exchange focused on removing existing thresholds, expanding the list of prohibited practices and strengthening protection for those reporting unfair trading practices. Edouard Coppieters, Senior Policy Adviser and Kim Watts, Policy Director, AmCham EU highlighted that companies of all sizes can face unfair trading practices. Across the agri-food supply chain, operators often contend with price volatility and legal pressure, particularly where bargaining power is unequal. The revision presents an opportunity to address these imbalances, strengthen protections and ensure a level playing field for all actors across the food supply chain.

The European Commission’s forthcoming guidance on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) should:

• allow companies to voluntarily prioritise chains of activities with a meaningful connection, which should be further defined in the guidance, to the EU or based on a global risk-based approach in cases where companies have global integrated supply chains;

• recognise that companies may face conflicting or overlapping legal requirements between EU and third-country legislation, particularly in relation to information gathering, audits, data transfers, supplier disengagement and cooperation with authorities;

• clarify how companies should document and manage circumstances in which third-country law restricts or prevents a due diligence measure;

• recognise interactions with competent local authorities, regulatory inspections, permits, licences and other official approvals as potentially relevant sources of due diligence information; and

• protect companies from liability where they have followed a reasonable, documented and good-faith process, including where another stakeholder might have prioritised risks or selected due diligence measures differently.

• If these measures are included in the guidance, they would help the CS3D deliver meaningful and effective due diligence, rather than an exhaustive mapping of every global business relationship. Flexibility, proportionality and legal certainty can help companies progressively develop credible global systems while directing resources towards the most significant risks and the areas where they have the greatest ability to achieve positive outcomes.

Learn more in our contribution and paper.