The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) monitors and regularly reports on the markets for cereals, fats, milk, sugar and alcohol in Germany. To do this, it draws on data from producers, producer associations, processing companies and trading companies in the

• fat industry,
• the grain industry,
• starch industry,
• animal feed industry,
• dairy industry,
• sugar industry,
• alcohol industry and the
• food industry.

If you are active in one of the above-mentioned economic sectors, you are obliged to report regularly to the BLE. In the quantity reports, you report on the purchase of agricultural raw materials, their stocks, processing, sales as well as the production, stocks and sales of the manufactured products.
In the price reports, you report on the purchase or sales prices of certain foodstuffs:

• Fruit
• vegetables
• meat
• butter
• Cheese
• drinking milk
• Cream
• Milk powder enriched with vegetable fat
• Flour
• molasses
• Olive oil
• sugar

You must submit the quantity and price declarations on a monthly basis.

Large processing companies and large companies:
Weekly price reports are only required for so-called large companies from mills, dairies or the fat industry as well as large processors of butter, cheese and meat and large companies in the food retail trade (LEH).
Large food retail companies have an annual turnover of more than EUR 7 billion.
Large processing companies have an annual turnover of more than EUR 250 million.
Large mills process more than 200,000 tons of bread grain annually,
Large dairies produce more than 250,000 tons of drinking milk and/or more than 20,000 tons of cream and/or more than 2,000 tons of firm mozzarella.
Large companies in the fat industry produce more than 5,000 tons of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat every year.

Small companies:
An exception applies to small companies in the grain, starch and animal feed industries. In this case, one quantity declaration in the marketing year (01.07. of one year to 30.06. of the following year) is sufficient. An exception also applies to small businesses in the fat industry. Here too, a quantity declaration in the calendar year (01.01 to 31.12 of a year) is sufficient.
The following companies are considered small companies and only have to submit a quantity declaration once in the financial year/calendar year:

• Mills processing 1,000 to less than 5,000 tons of grain per year

In addition to grinding mills, mills also include hulling mills and rice mills

• Malting plants with a malt production of 1,000 to less than 10,000 tons per year
• Starch manufacturers with an annual production of 1,000 to less than 5,000 tons of starch per year
• Compound feed companies with an annual production of 1,000 to less than 10,000 tons of compound feed
• Trading companies with annual sales of 1,000 to less than 10,000 tons of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, oil cakes, oilseed meals, expeller
• Companies with an annual production of 1,000 to less than 10,000 hectoliters of ethyl alcohol from grain
• Companies with an annual production or import of more than 1,000 hectoliters of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin
• Oil mills processing 1,000 to less than 10,000 tons of oilseeds per year
• Refineries, hardening plants and manufacturers of fish oil with a production of less than 1,000 tons of oils and fats per year
• Manufacturers of margarine products, margarine preparations, edible fats and edible oils with a production of up to less than 1,000 tons of these products per year
• Manufacturers of mixed fat products and preparations of mixed fat products, including dairies, with a production of less than 1,000 tons of these products per year

Other companies:

An annual quantity declaration is also sufficient for the following companies:

• Manufacturers of pasta from 1,000 tons of pasta production
• Coffee substitutes, nutritional and baking products and other cereal products from a processing of 1,000 tons of raw materials per year.

Exemption from the reporting obligation:

There are also companies to which the reporting obligation does not apply. The following companies are exempt:

• Dairies that process less than 3,000 liters of milk per day on average per year,
• Milk purchasers who buy less than 500 liters of milk per day on average from the producer in a year,
• Mills with an annual processing of less than 1,000 tons of grain,
• Malting plants with an annual production of less than 1,000 tons of malt,
• Starch manufacturers with an annual production of less than 1,000 tons of starch,
• Pasta manufacturers with an annual production of less than 1,000 tons of pasta,
• Manufacturers of nutrients and baking agents as well as coffee substitutes and other cereal products with an annual processing of less than 1,000 tons of raw materials,
• compound feed companies with an annual production of compound feed of less than 1,000 tons,
• Trading companies with annual sales of less than 1,000 tons of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, oil cakes, oil meals or expeller,
• Oil mills with an annual oilseed processing volume of less than 1,000 tons,
• Sugar manufacturers with an annual sugar production of less than 1,000 tons (white sugar value),
• Sugar traders with an annual purchase of less than 1,000 tons of crystalline or liquid sugar,
• Manufacturers of chemical or pharmaceutical products who purchase 500 tons or less of processed sugar per year, based on the white sugar value, as raw material,
• Manufacturers of isoglucose who produce less than 1,000 tons of isoglucose per year
• Producers of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with an annual production of less than 1,000 hectoliters
• Importers of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin who import less than 1,000 hectoliters of ethyl alcohol per year,
• Companies in the food retail sector with an annual domestic turnover of EUR 7 billion or less or where the product subject to notification was produced organically,
• Manufacturers of bakery products, long-life bakery products, ready meals, confectionery, ice cream, soft drinks and fruit juice beverages with an annual domestic turnover of EUR 250 million or less or where the product subject to the notification requirement was produced organically.
• Companies in the food industry that are neither food retailers nor manufacturers of chemical or pharmaceutical products, manufacturers of milk powder enriched with vegetable fat, manufacturers of yeast, nor manufacturers of baked goods, long-life baked goods, ready meals, confectionery, ice cream, soft drinks and fruit juice beverages.