It’s in your hands!

Which reports can help BLE to combat unfair trading practices?

All information helps BLE as the enforcement authority, particularly insider information that may contribute to discovering and proving violations of the prohibition of unfair trading practices.

You can send information to us and communicate with us – completely anonymously – via the BLE whistleblowing system. The more specific your information is, the easier it is for us to start investigations and rectify any legal violations identified.

As a whistleblower, you should therefore be able to provide information on the following questions in particular:

1. What happened?

   Please describe the alleged violation to us as precisely as possible. Please also indicate which agricultural, fishery or food products or which industry your report concerns.

   Example: “Customers X and Y have returned ordered Z products without paying the agreed purchase price” or “In industry A, it is customary not to pay for perishable B products until 50 days after delivery.”

   You can find out which products are covered by the prohibition of unfair trading practices and which commercial practices are prohibited at www.ble.de/utp.

2. Where did it happen?

   Please specify where the alleged violation happened.

   Example: “The commercial practice described concerns region A/state XY/ the entire industry in Germany.”

3. When did it happen?

   Please specify when the event happened or how long a trading practice has been going on. Please also specify whether the event is ongoing or has already ended.

   The prohibition on unfair trading practices came into force on 9 June 2021 for all new contracts and has also applied to all existing contracts since 8 June 2022.

4. Who is involved?

   Please specify which company/companies and which person(s) are involved in the alleged violation.

   Example: “Companies X, Y and Z are involved, each through their purchasing managers. For X, this is Ms A, for Y Mr B, and for Z Ms C.” or “The practices described are widespread in industry X. Companies A, B and C are particularly active in this area.”

5. How can the event be proven?

   If you have any information on how proving what happened, please share it with us.

   Example: “The commercial practice described results from the written contracts that are customary in the industry.” or “The violation can be proven by emails sent to suppliers by the purchaser XY of company A in June 2022.”

In order to remain anonymous, please ensure that you do not disclose any information that allows conclusions to be drawn about your identity.

Which reports can be submitted under the Whistleblower Protection Act?

The reported violations must be in the context of a professional activity with BLE, as the internal reporting office is not responsible for information on private misconduct.

The reports can be submitted not only by current and former employees, but also by applicants and persons who are or have been in contact with BLE as part of their professional activities.
When reporting, you should at least have reason to believe that your information falls under the Whistleblower Protection Act. Its scope includes, in particular, information on criminal activities, certain administrative infringements and violations of certain EU legal acts.

However, no legal review of the facts is required of legal experts. A report that accidentally falls outside the scope of the law has no consequences for the whistleblower.

However, a whistleblower who intentionally or grossly negligently reports incorrect information about a violation is not protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act. This means that there would be no protection for the confidentiality of identity and that damages could be claimed by an affected person.

Procedure after receipt of the report:

The internal reporting office is initially obliged to check the validity of the report in contact with the whistleblower. It must then take appropriate follow-up measures to put an end to existing malpractice. One of the follow-up measures is that the internal reporting office can carry out independent investigations at BLE. On the other hand, the internal reporting office can refer the case for further investigation either to the unit responsible for disciplinary proceedings, for example, or directly to the police authority or the public order office.

As the whistleblower, you will receive confirmation of receipt of your report within seven days. Within three months of confirmation of receipt, you will receive feedback on the follow-up measures that are planned or that have already been taken and the reasons for these follow-up measures.

Maintaining confidentiality:

Protecting the confidentiality of the whistleblower is a key part of the internal reporting office’s duties.

Without the express consent of the whistleblower, their identity will not be disclosed to anyone other than authorised employees. In exceptional cases, the identity of this person may be disclosed in accordance with Section 9 HinSchG, particularly

1. in criminal proceedings at the request of the criminal prosecution authorities,
2. on the basis of an order in an administrative procedure following a report, including administrative fine proceedings,
3. on the basis of a court ruling. The reporting office must inform the whistleblower in advance of the disclosure of their identity.

What is the process for submitting a report? How do I set up a postbox?

To submit an anonymous or personalised report, start by clicking the ‘Submit report’ button at the top of our introduction page.

There are 4 steps to the report process:

1. Firstly, you will be asked to read some information on the protection of your anonymity and answer a security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked whether your report concerns violations of the prohibition of unfair trading practices or other violations of the law.
3. On the report page, you can elaborate on your report in your own words and answer questions about the case by simply selecting responses. You can type up to 5000 characters into the free text field, which corresponds to a full A4 page. You may also submit a file of up to 10 MB in size to support your report. Please bear in mind that documents may contain information about the author. After submitting your report, you will receive a reference number to confirm that you have sent this report.
4. After this, please set up your own secured postbox. You will use this postbox to receive feedback, answer questions and find out about the progress of your report.

If you already have a secured postbox, you can go straight to it via the ‘Login’ button. First, you will have to answer a security query.

As long as you do not enter any data from which conclusions about your person can be drawn, the technology of the BKMS^® System will protect your anonymity.

Please rest assured that we are only interested in the case you are reporting. Abuses must be uncovered and financial losses prevented.

How do I receive feedback and still remain anonymous?

The overriding principle of the BKMS^® System in use is the protection of the whistleblower. The system’s anonymity protection function is certified by an independent body.

When you set up your secured postbox, you choose your pseudonym/ user name and password yourself. This login information is not visible to anyone except you. If you lose your login information, please submit a new report and set up a new postbox. If possible, please provide the reference number of your previous report. The new postbox will not contain anything associated with your previous report.

Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other special security measures. You do not have to provide any personal information if you submit a report anonymously. Do not submit any information that contains any reference to you. Please do not use any device provided by your employer, such as a PC or smartphone, to submit your report.

Via the secured postbox, an examiner will give you feedback about what is happening with your report or ask you questions if some details are still unclear – you will continue to remain anonymous throughout the dialogue. We are interested in reports to avoid damage or loss, not in you as a whistleblower.