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1. Article 101(1) TFEU shall not apply to agreements, decisions and concerted practices of producers of agricultural products that relate to the production of or trade in agricultural products and that aim to apply a sustainability standard higher than mandated by Union or national law, provided that those agreements, decisions and concerted practices only impose restrictions of competition that are indispensable to the attainment of that standard.

2. Paragraph 1 applies to agreements, decisions and concerted practices of producers of agricultural products to which several producers are party or to which one or more producers and one or more operators at different levels of the production, processing, and trade in the food supply chain, including distribution, are party.

3. For the purposes of paragraph 1, ‘sustainability standard’ means a standard which aims to contribute to one or more of the following objectives:

(a) environmental objectives, including climate change mitigation and adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of landscapes, water and soil, the transition to a circular economy, including the reduction of food waste, pollution prevention and control, and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems;

(b) the production of agricultural products in ways that reduce the use of pesticides and manage risks resulting from such use, or that reduce the danger of antimicrobial resistance in agricultural production; and (c) animal health and animal welfare.

4. Agreements, decisions and concerted practices that fulfil the conditions referred to in this Article shall not be prohibited, no prior decision to that effect being required.

5. The Commission shall issue guidelines for operators concerning the conditions for the application of this Article by 8 December 2023.

6. From 8 December 2023, producers as referred to in paragraph 1 may request an opinion from the Commission concerning the compatibility of agreements, decisions and concerted practices as referred to in paragraph 1 with this Article. The Commission shall send the applicant its opinion within four months of receipt of a complete request. If the Commission finds at any time after issuing an opinion that the conditions referred to in paragraphs 1, 3 and 7 of this Article are no longer met, it shall declare that Article 101(1) TFEU shall apply in the future to the agreement, decision or concerted practice in question and inform the producers accordingly. The Commission may change the content of an opinion at its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, in particular if the applicant has provided inaccurate information or misused the opinion.

7. The national competition authority as referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 may decide in individual cases that, in the future, one or more of the agreements, decisions and concerted practices referred to in paragraph 1 are to be modified, discontinued or not take place at all, if it considers that such a decision is necessary in order to prevent competition from being excluded or if it considers that the objectives set out in Article 39 TFEU are jeopardised. For agreements, decisions and concerted practices covering more than one Member State, the decision referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be taken by the Commission without applying the procedures referred to in Article 229(2) and (3). When acting under the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the national competition authority shall inform the Commission in writing after initiating the first formal measure of the investigation and shall notify the Commission of any resulting decisions without delay after their adoption. The decisions referred to in this paragraph shall not apply earlier than the date of their notification to the undertakings concerned.