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Agricultural Retail Trade Regulation as a Legal Instrument to Support Local Food Systems

Anna Kapała


The article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of an example of a legislative tool to support local food systems, which is the Polish provisions on ‘agricultural retail trade’. The regulation introduces significant incentives for the farmers participating in the short food chains, such as income tax exemptions, no obligation to register a business, lower social insurance contribution. It limits the number of intermediaries in the supply chain and establishes the condition of geographical proximity between the seller and consumers, improving farmers’ market access and strengthening their economic position. These provisions can therefore be valued as conducive to launching such activity and, as a result, contribute to the development of local food systems. However, legal requirements of food safety and hygiene which apply to this activity may be a barrier for farmers, especially operating on a small scale. On the other hand, they aim to protect the health of consumers, so that they can have confidence in the food they buy.

Anna Kapała, PhD in Law, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland. For Correspondence: <mailto:anna.kapala@wp.eu>. This work was supported by the National Science Centre in Poland under Grant No. 2016/21/D/HS5/03906.

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