Editing Dairy (section)

===Milk supply contracts===
In the [[European Union]], milk supply contracts are regulated by Article 148 of [[European Union Regulation|Regulation]] 1308/2013 – ''Establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007'', which permits member states to create a requirement for the supply of milk from a farmer to a raw milk processor to be backed by a written contract, or to ensure that the first purchaser of milk to make a written offer to the farmer, although in this case the farmer may not be required to enter into a contract.<ref>European Union, [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2013:347:FULL Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418030052/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=OJ:L:2013:347:FULL |date=18 April 2021 }}, Article 148 published 20 December 2013, accessed 25 September 2020</ref>

Thirteen EU [[Member state of the European Union|member states]] including [[France#Agriculture|France]] and [[Agriculture in Spain|Spain]] have introduced laws on compulsory or mandatory written milk contracts (MWC's) between farmers and processors. The [[Scottish Government]] published an analysis of the dairy supply chain and the application of mandatory written contracts across the European Union in 2019, to evaluate the impact of the contracts where they have been adopted.<ref>Scottish Government, [https://www.gov.scot/publications/impact-mandatory-written-dairy-contracts-european-countries-potential-application-scotland/pages/2/ Dairy contracts in European countries: research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029053920/http://www.gov.scot/publications/impact-mandatory-written-dairy-contracts-european-countries-potential-application-scotland/pages/2/ |date=29 October 2020 }}, published 19 November 2019, accessed 7 October 2020</ref> In the UK, a voluntary code of best practice on contractual relationships in the dairy sector was agreed by industry during 2012: this set out minimum standards of good practice for contracts between producers and purchasers.<ref name=cr>DEFRA, [https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/ Contractual relationships in the UK dairy industry] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919084424/https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/ |date=19 September 2020 }}, published 24 June 2020, accessed 7 October 2020</ref> During 2020 the [[UK government]] has undertaken a consultation exercise to determine which contractual measures, if any, would improve the resilience of the dairy industry for the future.<ref>DEFRA, [https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/supporting_documents/dairyconsultationdoc.pdf Consultation: Contractual relationships in the UK dairy industry, June 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924013002/https://consult.defra.gov.uk/agri-food-chain-directorate/contractual-relationships-in-the-uk-dairy-industry/supporting_documents/dairyconsultationdoc.pdf |date=24 September 2020 }}, accessed 7 October 2020, p. 6</ref>

The [[Australian government]] has also introduced a mandatory dairy code of conduct.<ref name=cr />