The obligation that half the food on the shelves of large stores to be Romanian, annulled by the Parliament | Progresiv
The project to amend the law that relieves food traders of the obligation to provide exposure and sale spaces of at least 50% of the existing area used for marketing food coming from Romanian producers and 20% of these spaces to be allocated to all local producers passed the final vote of the Chamber of Deputies. The provision that, in the winter months, imported vegetables and fruits could represent at most 70% of the offer was also eliminated. 
The list of products covered by the law included milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, fruits, vegetables and products made from them, bakery and confectionery. At the same time, the "short supply chain" becomes a "direct partnership" and translates into "the direct commercial relationship between the trader and the agricultural cooperatives, the associations of agricultural producers, the agricultural production companies, agri-food producers and distributors, between which a contract is signed for a minimum of 12 months".
The article according to which the label for meat marketed in Romania had to include the country of origin of the animal, the place where it was raised and the place where it was slaughtered, the health mark and the name of the commercial operator was also annulled. The obligation to visibly display the label "Romanian meat" also disappears.
After the decisive vote of the deputies, the law stipulates that, for the categories of meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, honey, milk and bakery products, the trader can "order that the products in the quantity of the entered merchandise gradually correspond to each category of food products, coming from direct partnerships, to ensure the consumer's access to fresh products". The trader is no longer obliged to grant separate spaces to the Romanian products, but can, by understanding the parties, grant separate exposure and signage spaces at the shelf for each food product, depending on the country of origin.
Another change was passed in the payment terms. If, in the initial form of the law, the payment term of the trader to the supplier was established by negotiating the contract, without the payment term exceeding 30 calendar days, now the payment will be made according to the provisions of the legislation in force. In the case of fresh products, if the payment was initially to be made within seven days, the amended law extends the term to 14 days from the date of receipt of the goods by the beneficiary.
The new form of the law comes into force within 45 days of its publication in the Official Monitor and, after this time, traders have 6 months to modify the contracts in progress.
In its initial form, the law attracted an infringement procedure initiated by the European Commission since the beginning of 2017. The limitation of the products on the shelf by law translated to the European authority with the violation of the consumers' rights to make their own choices in stores, but also violated the free movement of goods within the Community.
