Agri-food
At rēgula, we have a well-established legal practice in the agri-food sector, with particular expertise in food supply chain regulation. We advise companies, interprofessional organizations, cooperatives, sector associations, and individual operators on all legal issues affecting their activities, with a practical, technical approach aligned with the sector’s structural and regulatory challenges.
Our team provides ongoing advice on the interpretation and application of the food supply chain regulatory framework, both at national and regional levels. We have extensive experience in the legal analysis of commercial relationships between operators, in drafting and reviewing food contracts, and in preventing and managing legal risks arising from Act 12/2013 on measures to improve the functioning of the food supply chain (substantially amended by Act 16/2021).
We assist our clients in ensuring compliance with the specific obligations imposed by this legislation: written formalization of contracts, inclusion of all elements required by law, determination of prices and payment terms, prohibitions on unfair trading practices, and duties of transparency, traceability, and record-keeping. We also advise on structuring relationships between primary producers, cooperatives, processing industries, and distributors, paying particular attention to the relative bargaining position of the parties in the chain and to the legal criteria for assessing contractual imbalance.
We have represented operators in sanctioning proceedings before the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA) and its regional counterparts, and we have acted in judicial challenges to administrative sanctions before the administrative courts. We also assist in internal audit and compliance review processes, and in training internal teams responsible for food supply chain compliance.
We further advise on complementary areas of particular relevance to the agri-food sector, such as competition law, State aid, public procurement in the agri-food field, labeling, traceability, product liability, and sustainability regulations. This enables us to provide a comprehensive legal approach covering every aspect of our clients’ activities in the sector.
Our firm maintains close relationships with operators and representative organizations in the industry, allowing us to remain fully up to date on the evolution of the regulatory framework, policy priorities, and emerging trends. This proximity enables us to anticipate risks, identify opportunities, and develop legal strategies aligned with our clients’ objectives.
In short, at rēgula we understand the legal challenges of the agri-food sector from within, and we support our clients with agile, precise, and committed advice that combines legal expertise, sector knowledge, and strategic vision.