Agricultural Market Structure Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Law on the further development of the market structure in the agricultural sector |
| Short title: | Agricultural Market Structure Act |
| Previous title: | Law to adapt agricultural production to market requirements |
| Abbreviation: | Agricultural MSG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Commercial administrative law , market regulation law |
| References : | 7840-4 |
| Original version from: | May 16, 1969 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 423 ) |
| Entry into force on: | May 21, 1969 |
| Last revision from: | April 20, 2013 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 917 ) |
| Entry into force of the new version on: |
April 25, 2013 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 2 G of June 26, 2017 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1942, 1943 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
July 4, 2017 (Art. 3 G of June 26, 2017) |
| GESTA : | F036 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The Agricultural Market Structure Act was passed in 1969 under the title Market Structure Act. With the new version of April 20, 2013, the title was modified, among other things. The aim of the law is to promote the creation of producer groups and associations of producer groups in order to improve the market position of German agriculture .
aims
Objectives of producer groups and their associations:
- To improve the quality of agricultural production.
- To bring about mergers of agricultural and fishing farms as a counterbalance to the concentration on the demand side that has already taken place and to improve the market position of farmers.
- To ensure a continuous supply of the market with uniform lots of high quality.
activities
The goals mentioned above are to be achieved through:
- Mergers of agricultural and forestry businesses to form producer groups
- Association of producer groups to form associations
- Creation of long-term partnerships between producer groups and companies in the trade as well as in processing.
The adaptation of production to market requirements can only be achieved in producer groups through specialization in a single product or in a group of related products. The legislator has listed the products in question in an appendix to the Market Structure Act. This grouping option has been expanded in the most recent change.
requirements
Legal requirements for the recognition of a producer group:
- at least seven founding members
- Minimum production quantity or minimum cultivation area
- the activity must be limited to one product or a group of related products
- certain production and quality rules must be observed
- Legal form of the legal person under private law (e.g .: eV, GmbH, eG, AG)
- the products of its members are generally offered together (exception is possible)
- Membership contributions
- The statutes must provide for contractual penalties
- a producer group must not exclude competition in the market
In addition, associations of producer groups can also be recognized. The minimum requirement for recognition as an association of producer groups is the performance of an instructive and advisory activity for the producer groups belonging to it or their members and the establishment of binding production and quality rules. Associations of producer groups must not exclude competition in the market either.
