Retro reform

The government’s noble goal is to make Hungarian people buy Hungarian food products, possibly of good quality. In the near future a handful of new legislations will be passed with the goal of urging a diversified food production, supporting the market access of domestic products and informing consumers about the origin of products.

But it is very difficult to implement a ‘retro reform’ like this in a country where most housewives’ number one priority is feeding their families and not buying quality Hungarian products. It is a fact that the government has few tools at their disposal to stop the influx of import products, which are of lower quality than domestic products but are definitely cheaper. The government’s first measure was strengthening secondary food control. Another step is the obligatory membership of the agricultural chamber not only for farmers and processing companies but for retailers too. It is clear from the draft legislation that the smallest companies will not have to pay a membership fee, but the biggest ones (with annual gross revenue above HUF 1 billion) will have to pay 0.002 percent of their revenues. The regulation also defines the conditions for the voluntary usage of the marking ‘Hungarian food product’, making order in the current chaos on the food market. Discussing the National Rural Strategy Concept is still under way; the goal of the strategy is to set the priorities of Hungarian agriculture and rural development for the next 10 years.