President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, has signed the Act on the prevention of the wastage of food on 19 August 2019 (the “Act”).

The Act imposes an obligation on food wholesalers and retailers with sales facilities of a floor space exceeding 250 m2 to transfer to non-governmental organizations, free of charge, food that would have been wasted otherwise, in particular because of the approaching expiry date or the date of minimum durability or due to defects in the appearance of these food or its packaging and their destination for disposal as waste.

However, within 2 years from the date on which the Act becomes effective, the obligations specified in the Act shall apply to food vendors who have sales premises of a floor space exceeding 400 m2.

The vacatio legis is very short because the Act enters into force 14 days after the date of the announcement, with the exception of Articles 5–14 of the Act, which enters into force on the first day of the sixth month after the month of the announcement.

The food vendor is required to submit reports on the quantity of wasted food.

The Act provides for a charge of 10 groszy per each kg of wasted food, as well as various penalties and fines. Among others, the fine for the lack of signing of an agreement on the free provision of food by the food vendor with a non-governmental organization for the free transfer of food by a food vendor is to be in an amount of PLN 5,000.

The Act imposes further statutory tasks on food wholesalers and retailers, which require the creation of additional internal procedures and the undertaking of tasks to fulfil the legislative obligations.