Trade term
Payment deadline for perishable produce
European law caps how late a buyer can pay for perishable agricultural products, and Spain fixes the ceiling for anything that travels under regulated temperature. The period runs from delivery instead of from the invoice, no agreement between the parties can lengthen it, and a public agency enforces it rather than the supplier having to sue.
The figures
| European ceiling, perishable agri-food | 30 days, Directive (EU) 2019/633, Article 3 |
|---|---|
| European ceiling, other agri-food | 60 days |
| Spanish ceiling, fresh and perishable food | 30 days from the date of delivery, in no case longer |
| What makes citrus perishable in Spanish law | Needing regulated temperature for marketing and transport |
| How late payment is classed in Spain | A serious infringement under the food chain law |
| Late payment interest in Spain | European Central Bank rate plus eight points |
What it changes on an order
Your standard purchase terms run longer than the ceiling
The ceiling wins. A clause setting a longer period for fresh produce has nothing to stand on, and the supplier keeps the statutory date whatever both companies signed.
You are holding payment back over a condition claim
The statutory date is fixed by law rather than by your contract. Agree an inspection and condition protocol inside the contract, so a dispute follows a route both sides accepted before the fruit moved.
You buy from Spain into another member state
Spain's enforcement agency is the contact point for its counterparts elsewhere in the Union, and those authorities are required to cooperate. A border stopped being a practical defence.
What this note does not settle
- This is the legal ceiling and not our offer. No payment period has been agreed with anyone here, and the law fixes the latest lawful date rather than the one two companies settle on.
- The rule caps lateness only. Shorter terms, staged payments and money sent in advance sit entirely outside it.
- Definitions and thresholds differ between the European text and the Spanish one. Read the version that governs your contract, and take advice on the contract you are about to sign.
Source: Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices, Article 3, Ley 12/2013 de medidas para mejorar el funcionamiento de la cadena alimentaria, Ley 15/2010, disposicion adicional primera, Agencia de Informacion y Control Alimentarios
The clock starts at the tailgate
The date that counts is delivery. Spanish law fixes the deferral for fresh and perishable food from the day the goods are handed over, which quietly closes the oldest door in slow payment: invoicing late to move the due date along with it. An invoice arriving long after the pallets extends nothing. What it shortens is the room your accounts payable run has to work in, because the supplier's statutory date has not moved an inch.
The European text offers variants for regular deliveries and for cases where the amount is worked out after the event, so a weekly programme has its own starting point written in. Whichever variant governs a contract, the figure is a ceiling rather than a default setting. A clause in standard purchase terms reaching beyond it for fresh produce is writing over a rule that bends for neither party.
Why oranges are perishable in law, and where we stand
The Spanish definition has two doors and citrus walks through the second. Food qualifies as fresh and perishable if it holds its qualities for under a month, or if it needs regulated temperature for marketing and transport. Oranges travel chilled. So the temperature door settles the question on its own, with nobody obliged to argue about how long fruit lasts in a store.
None of this describes our terms, since no terms exist to describe. It describes the latest lawful date once they do, which is a different thing and a more useful one to be holding before you quote. Enforcement sits with a public agency rather than with a supplier's solicitor, and that agency is the contact point for its counterparts across the Union, which puts a buyer outside Spain inside the same machinery.
Talk to the grower
Tell us the variety, the sizes and the delivery week you need. You get a delivered price and what we can commit to in writing, from the person who picks the fruit.
The grower handles enquiries. Response times are still to be confirmed.