AM: From January 1, buyers must pay producers within 30 days

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According to the announcement, in the event of late payment, producers have so far only been able to turn to court – but from January 1, 2025, the Nébih (National Food Chain Safety Office) can also directly punish the late payer. The fine is 10 percent of the consideration not paid by the deadline, but at least 1 million forints, if the buyer – whether a purchaser, processor or distributor – exceeds the 30-day payment deadline set by law. The buyer must pay the price of the product to the producer within 30 days of receiving the goods, but the prerequisite for this is that the producer hands over the correctly issued invoice to the buyer within 15 days of the delivery of the goods. If the producer hands over the invoice after 15 days, the buyer has 15 days from the receipt of the correctly issued invoice to pay – they wrote. The previous rule that late payments must also be paid interest on late payments remains – they informed. In contracts in which the parties agree on continuous delivery, the payment deadline is also the 30th day after the performance of the current month, but with the additional condition that the buyer pays the producer at least 30 percent of the value of the performance of the current month by the fifth day following the performance month – the announcement states.

MTI