From January 1, buyers must pay producers within 30 days

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 12. 09. 11:41

The 30-day payment deadline for agricultural and food products has been in effect since 2012, but – in order to protect producers – violating this will also result in an administrative fine from the beginning of next year.

In the event of late payment, producers have so far only been able to go to court – but from 1 January 2025, the NÉBIH (National Food Chain Safety Office) can also directly punish the late payer. The fine is 10% 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 receipt of the goods, but the prerequisite for this is that the producer hands over the correctly issued invoice to the buyer within 15 days of 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 make the payment.

The previous rule also remains that late payment interest must be paid in the case of payments after the deadline.

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% of the value of the performance of the current month by the 5th day following the performance month.

The Ministry of Agriculture is thus contributing to strengthening the market position of small farms and producers, as they will be less vulnerable to buyers. Thanks to the producer protection law package, farmers will be able to receive the value of their goods more quickly than before.