THE OPERATION OF THE PRODUCER ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SECTOR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

In The European Union the viable Producer Organizations (POs) are the key instruments of the regulation of the fruit and vegetable sector. In spite of the same EU standards the operation of the POs shows diversity in the Member States. These concern mainly the number of membership, turnover and company form. In the EU-15 the progress of the POs has started more decades ago therefore the new Member States included Hungary has handicap. At present the regulation of the sector is under revision and the new standards will be in force from 2008. As a result of the amending the European Union expects the increase of the number of the POs in order to boost the bargain position of the farmers against retailers as well as the use of environmental friendly cultivation technologies. In this paper I present the main goals of the regulation and its reform, furthermore I examine the features of the POs in the European Union and in Hungary. Besides I examine how we could strengthen the role and the bargain position of the POs. One of the solutions could be the forming of the secondary collaborations.