Annex 1 - Identifying relevant legal rules

N.B. The following list of questions is intended to help identify some of the issues which may be relevant to the functioning of food marketing systems in urban areas. However it is not a complete check-list and nor should it be used as a such since answering all the questions would be very time consuming. Instead existing knowledge about the functioning of the marketing system and the policy objectives of any market reform initiative should be used to narrow the focus to specific areas where problems exist and/or improvements are desired.

Potential Issues and Questions to Ask		Where to Look
Restrictions on access to, and participation in, markets.
Are any parties excluded from participation in the market?
What licences (if any) are required to participate in the market in various capacities?		Agricultural Marketing legislation, market by-laws
What are the requirements to qualify for a licence? (e.g. requirements to have a certain bank balance, to have approved storage facilities, and to maintain certain records).
What conditions are imposed in licences?		Legislation and standard licence forms, administrative guidelines.
What is the procedure for obtaining licences and how much does it cost?
Is there a restriction on the number of licences and how are they allocated?
Commodities traded
What legal provisions are there relating to:		Food Laws
	- the quality of produce and food;	Public Health, Pesticides
	- public health;	legislation
	- standards of agricultural products;	Agricultural marketing legislation
	- packaging and labelling?	Marketing & Environmental legislation
Is there a distinction between standards for domestic and export markets?		Marketing, and Trade & Export legislation
Restrictions on the Supply and Price of Agricultural Produce
Are there controls on the movement of certain foods, above certain quantities or between locations?		Marketing legislation, conditions in licences
Are there controls on sales of food, eg on the basis of type of commodity, quantity, quality or location of sale?		Marketing legislation.
Are there controls on the storage of food?		Anti-hoarding legislation.
Are there any direct controls on the prices of food?		Marketing or Price Control legislation & laws establishing state marketing institutions.
The market place
Are there any restrictions on market days and hours?		Town planning laws and municipal bye-laws, market laws.
Are there any restrictions on the location of markets in urban areas?		Food, public health and hygiene
Are there any restrictions preventing the establishment of market places in optimum locations?		laws, by-laws and market rules.
Are there adequate rules governing hygiene standards in the market?		Laws empowering officials in
Are there legal measures to maintain public order in and around the market, and to control competition from unlicensed operators outside?		change of markets. Trading laws.
Dispute Resolution		Case law/jurisprudence. Laws
What legal mechanisms exist to enforce contracts?		establishing courts, marketing
What evidence would usually be required to prove the existence and terms of a contract ?		authorities or other bodies with adjudicatory powers.
Finance and credit
Can stored produce such as grain be pledged to secure a loan?		Case law and jurisprudence
Can effective security be created even when the produce in question is mixed with other similar produce and can no longer be specifically identified?		Commercial Code, legislation on security and collateral, banking law.
What protection does the lender have against third parties who buy the produce or acquire some interest in it without knowledge of the lender’s security interest in it? (E.g. some countries have a system of registering security interests designed to protect the interest of the lender by giving notice to the world at large of lender’s interest in the goods).		Case law and jurisprudence Bankruptcy/ insolvency law. Legislation
What protection does the lender have if the borrower or operator of the warehouse containing the goods, dies or becomes bankrupt?		(and case law/ jurisprudence)on warehouses,
Are warehouse receipts are recognised as negotiable documents of title?		legal tender and negotiable instruments.
Does the legal personality of the borrower have any effect on the security?		Commercial Code and Banking legislation.
Do public sector organisation in the marketing system have preferential access to credit?		Exchange Control laws.
Are there any restrictions on access to foreign exchange?
Transactions in the Market
Are there any rules establishing standard weights and measures?		Legislation on weights and
Are there any standard contracts in use which standardise and clarify issues such as: the date when the transaction is binding; the terms of sale; the margin of tolerance for quality, responsibility for loss or damage, consequences of delay, etc?		measures.
Public Sector Institutions
How is the responsibility for administering various aspects of the marketing system allocated among government departments, agencies and parastatals?		Laws constituting public sector organisations.
Are there jurisdictional overlaps and conflicts?
Are there legal mechanisms for ensuring that delegated rule making (e.g. by market committees) does not conflict with superior laws?
Private sector organisations
Are there any laws preventing the formation of private organisations of producers, wholesalers, retailer etc. or to run markets?		Marketing laws.
Would such bodies be able to acquire legal personality?		Company laws and Commercial codes
Could limited powers to make and enforce rules or business practices, and decide disputes be legally delegated to-such bodies and have these powers been used?		Legislation on Markets
Are there any rules aimed at preventing special interest groups dominating such organisations?
Market manipulation		Competition or “anti-trust” laws,
Are there any rules applicable to agricultural markets which prohibit cartels, price fixing, “unfair competition” or other anti- competitive behaviour?		legislation on business practices, case law or jurisprudence on “unfair competition”.
Are there any rules prohibiting specific forms of fraud or corruption relevant to agricultural marketing? (E.g. submitting false applications, misgrading produce, bribing officials etc).		Criminal law, legislation on trade practices; anti-corruption and. economic crime legislation