They did not comply with the rules put in place in October 2018 by the Agriculture and Food Law (EGalim) aimed at framing trade negotiations. Three major distributors – Carrefour, Système U and Intermarché – were inflicted administrative fines totaling more than 4 million euros from the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF). “The rule fixing a deadline of 1st March for the signing of annual agreements had not been respected for a significant number of suppliers “, specifies the repression of fraud.
With 2.93 million euros in penalties, Carrefour received the heaviest fine. Next come System U – with 1.14 million euros – and Intermarché, with 211,000 euros. The DGCCRF announced that “The amount of the penalties is proportional to the number and the extent of the delays, as well as to the forecast turnover concerned”.
Commercial negotiations between distributors, farmers and manufacturers are held from mid-October to the end of February and are expected to establish prices for products on the shelves for the coming year. Gold “The fact of not having signed the agreement within the time allowed is likely to strengthen the balance of power in favor of the distributor”, notes the DGCCRF, which claims some “5,500 checks on the application of the new rules governing promotions”, provided for under EGalim law.
“Persistence of highly questionable practices”
Adopted in October 2018, this law aims in particular to get out of a domino effect caused by the price war between the four major retailers in France: they are demanding, during these negotiations, ever lower prices from their suppliers. ‘food industry. They in turn buy the agricultural raw material as cheaply as possible from farmers.
A year ago, the government insisted on “The persistence of very questionable practices”, especially in mass distribution, during commercial negotiations. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, had then warned that Bercy would ensure the “Rigor of the controls carried out” at distributors, and had called for “Sanction breaches”. “The negotiations which will end on 1st March 2020 will be, even more than the previous ones, an indicator of the willingness of actors to play the game of reform ”, for its part warned the DGCCRF in its press release.
Last October, the EGalim law had been harshly criticized by the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir and by the Confédération paysanne, who estimated that a year after its entry into force, “The rebalancing of trade negotiations long awaited by farmers and promoted by law [n’avait] not happened “.
Joined by AFP, the Carrefour group was unable to react immediately. The Système U and Intermarché groups could not be reached.
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