knowledge 21 January 2026 |

Spill the Beans – New Information Powers for the Agri-Food Regulator

Background

Under the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023 (the “Act”), the functions previously vested in the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine (the “Minister”) under the EU (Unfair Trading Practice Regulations in the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain) Regulations 2021 transferred to the Agri-Food Regulator.

Under the Act, the Agri-Food Regulator’s primary functions include:

• promoting fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain;
• publishing its analysis of information about price and market data relating to the agricultural and food supply chain in Ireland;
• enhancing understanding of, and compliance with, and enforcement of agri-food unfair trading law; and
• providing guidance to and liaising with industry stakeholders in the supply chain.

Price and Market Analysis

The Agri-Food Regulator is tasked with publishing regular reports on price and market data relating to the agricultural and food supply chain. To fulfil this function, the Act enables the Agri-Food Regulator to seek certain information and data from businesses in the agri-food sector, including but not limited to:

• prices paid and received;
• margins;
• financial and accounting data;
• throughput of agricultural produce;
• policy and procedural data;
• employment status and salary information.

New Powers

To date, information required by the Agri-Food Regulator in relation to its price and market analysis functions has been collected using publicly available information and data provided voluntarily by businesses. However, under the new Agri-Food (Price and Marketing Information) Regulations 2025 (the “Regulations”), from 31 December 2026, the Agri-Food Regulator will be able to compel the provision of information from agri-food businesses where requests for information have not been complied with voluntarily. In order to do so, the Agri-Food Regulator must issue an information notice to the relevant business, specifying the data required and allowing a reasonable response period (of not less than 28 days).

Before compelling the provision of information, the Agri-Food Regulator is required to consider:

• the relevance and necessity of the data sought from the business (including the position of the business in the market);
• the potential burden on the business of complying with the information notice (including the size of the business and the volume of data sought);
• the complexity of compiling and providing the requested data;
• whether the information requested is commercially sensitive; and
• any representations made by the business in respect of the information sought.

The Agri-Food Regulator is required to consult with the business prior to publishing any information received in response to an information notice.

Failure to comply with an information notice or providing false or misleading data to the Agri-Food Regulation is an offence under the Regulations.

Exclusions

When announcing the Agri-Food Regulator’s new powers, the Minister acknowledged that smaller enterprises are often disproportionately impacted by regulatory and administrative burdens. To address this, the Regulations exclude small businesses that employ fewer than 50 people and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed €10 million. In addition, the Agri-Food Regulator is not permitted to compel data for an individual product from any business more than once in a 12-month period.

What’s next?

The Regulations come into operation on 31 December 2026. The Minister has noted that this delayed start date will enable the Agri-Food Regulator to set up the relevant processes and systems required to implement the new Regulations. Similarly, businesses in the agri-food sector should prepare for a regime under which they may receive compulsory requests for information, including commercially sensitive information, that they may have been reluctant to share to date.