The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) started today a public consultation regarding draft Guidelines for Sustainability Agreements (see, attachments) (the Draft Guidelines). Stakeholders are invited to submit their comments by 20 November 2025.

The Draft Guidelines did not arise in a vacuum: they build on both the assessment of sustainability agreements contained in the “horizontal cooperation agreement guidelines” of the European Commission (Commission) and the exclusion from the application of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that applies to specific sustainability agreements of agricultural producers. They also benefit from similar efforts by the Dutch and French competition authorities.

The Draft Guidelines include two major sections that discuss the general principles applying to sustainability agreements and address the specific use of sustainability agreements in the agricultural sector. In the process, they draw on the BCA’s own expertise in this area, as is for example apparent from the BCA’s 2023 review of a project to guarantee fair wages in the banana sector.

Significantly, the Draft Guidelines encourage the business community to seek informal advice.