Refine the product before exporting to Europe. This is one of the objectives of the third revision of the EGalim law, which regulates commercial relations to better distribute value within the food chain. The kick-off was given by the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, on February 21, among other measures intended to calm agricultural anger.
MPs Alexis Izard (Renaissance, Essonne) and Anne-Laure Babault (MoDem, Charente-Maritime) officially launched, on Wednesday March 13, the parliamentary mission with which they were entrusted by the government to advance avenues for improvement. Integration of out-of-home catering, distributor brands, purchasing centers, origin of products, sectors, etc. All areas will be examined in a report that they will submit to the government by the summer, in the form of an assessment and recommendation. “The idea is not to reinvent everything, but to make the texts more solid”declared Mr. Izard and Mr.Me Babault. “The EGalim device, as it was designed, meets expectations, but there are things to improve in its application”they indicated, so that its implementation » does not work «Or “was hijacked”.
Regulations have indeed piled up over the years. Resulting from the General States of Food of 2017, the law of October 30, 2018 (known as “EGalim”) aimed to improve the balance of commercial relations in the agricultural and food sector by reversing the construction of the price, by regulating written contracts, and by capping promotions on food products. The one adopted on October 18, 2021 called “EGalim 2” aimed to protect the remuneration of farmers, by introducing an automatic price revision mechanism and by excluding agricultural raw materials from commercial negotiations between distributors and manufacturers. Finally, the law adopted on March 30, 2023, nicknamed “EGalim 3” or “Descrozaille law”, named after the Renaissance deputy from Val-de-Marne who brought it, has notably aligned, since the 1uh March, the ceiling of discounts on drugstore or hygiene items with that of food products.
Circumventions with little sanction
The deputies will be able to rely on the report of the mission to implement the EGalim 3 law, presented to the economic affairs committee of the National Assembly, Wednesday March 13, by the deputy of the La France insoumise-Nouvelle Union populaire group. ecological and social, Aurélie Trouvé, and Frédéric Descrozaille. And on the Egalim 2 law enforcement mission which will begin. According to their report, distributors have further increased, since the entry into force of Egalim 3, the use of purchasing centers transferred abroad by disregarding the legal application of the French commercial code. “40% to 50% of the volumes sold by large retailers in France are negotiated by purported purchasing centers abroad”, specifies the report. Despite the government’s proactive position, these circumventions are hardly sanctioned, they regret. They are calling for a strengthening of the resources deployed to the administration responsible for controls.
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