Egalim Law: Attal announces “very tough sanctions” against three companies

This is a response to those among the mobilized farmers who doubt the effectiveness of the Egalim Law (parts 1 and 2 of which were passed in 2018 and 2021), designed to “protect” the prices of agricultural raw materials in the commercial sector. negotiations concerning the agri-food industry and mass distribution.

“Egalim, that was progress. The challenge is to ensure that Egalim is used to its fullest extent,” the Prime Minister said this Friday during a trip to Haute-Garonne. “The goal is clear: to achieve respect for Egalim everywhere, without exception,” he added.

To this end, the government has been announcing for several days the strengthening of controls by the Directorate General for Combating Competition and Fraud (DGCCRF) with the mobilization of 100 inspectors.

At noon on Friday, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire had already said that these controls had “revealed a certain number of violations” committed by manufacturers and distributors in the context of price negotiations, and that “prohibitory measures” would be sent to the companies concerned who were forced to comply , it will only be “a few days.”

Fines up to 2% of turnover

Gabriel Attal went even further in his statements: “We are going to impose three very tough sanctions against important companies that do not comply with Egalim,” he confirmed, without, however, disclosing names. The law stipulates that fines of up to 2% of a sanctioned company’s turnover can be imposed on suppliers and distributors who break the rules due to a lack of transparency by failing to clearly indicate, for example, the price of agricultural raw materials. materials.

At the moment, there is no certainty that the initiated procedures will actually lead to the imposition of sanctions against the companies under close scrutiny – three producers of agri-food products. “At the moment we are not yet at the ideal stage,” explains Bersi. These companies received an injunction. Then comes the adversarial phase and the opportunity for the companies concerned to comply with the law.

So far, Bersi said, the government has tightened controls but favored education and warnings, with 500 inspections carried out in 2022. These announcements came a few days before the end of negotiations between suppliers and distributors, on January 31. These discussions, held every year, lead to agreement on prices that will appear on store shelves from February of the following year.