On 2 April 2026, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) adopted new guidelines on sustainability cooperation, covering both general sustainability agreements and sustainability agreements in the agricultural sector.

The guidelines follow a public consultation launched after the publication of draft guidelines in October 2025. Our Competition and EU team submitted observations on the draft, several of which were taken on board by the BCA, including closer alignment with the European Commission’s sustainability cooperation guidelines and clarifications on the “soft” safe harbour for sustainability standards.

The final guidelines also refer, by way of example, to the first informal view of the BCA President on sustainability cooperation (COMEOS and KOFFIECAFE, December 2025), which our team was instrumental in obtaining.

👉 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: the guidelines are available in French and Dutch on the BCA website.

👉 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Feel free to reach out to our competition team or your usual contact person at 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭.

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