The deputies and senators agreed on Wednesday, March 15 during a joint joint committee (CMP), on a compromise version of the bill by Renaissance deputy Frédéric Descrozaille which modifies, on an experimental basis, commercial relations between the supermarket chains and their suppliers.
“With this text, deputies and senators agree to rebalance the negotiations between large retailers and suppliers”tweeted Guillaume Kasbarian, Renaissance chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee. The text that the parliamentarians came up with is “irresponsible and inflationary”protests the employers’ federation of large retailers (FCD) in a press release.
The FCD regrets that promotions will be capped at 34% for products such as diapers, detergents or shower gels, as is already the case in the food department. This is likely, for the organization, to “hit the French most in difficulty, by increasing the margins of the few giants in the sector for no reason”. “This law will thus have only one purpose: to allow a few large manufacturers, most often foreigners, who hold the vast majority of market shares, to increase their margins, which are already scandalous, in the inflationary situation that we are experiencing”pings the FCD.
As for Ania, which defends food manufacturers, it salutes the work of parliamentarians to “make it very concrete to ensure fairer remuneration for farmers, fill legal voids that are sources of economic instability for companies” And “rebalance” the relationship between manufacturers and their buyers.
Bridging the “legal limbo”
The bill aims in particular to fill the gap “legal vagueness” in the event of failure of the annual commercial negotiation. This is scheduled from 1er december to 1er March for products that fill the shelves (Lactel, Fleury Michon, Bonduelle, etc.), excluding private label.
Currently, if companies do not agree on prices, this does not interrupt the contract. This benefits the supermarket since it can continue for several months to order products from the supplier at the old price, even though the latter may experience high inflation on its production costs.
From now on, on an experimental basis, if the annual commercial negotiation fails, the supplier will be able to interrupt its deliveries if it considers the price paid too low during the notice period for breach of contract.
“Liar poker to the detriment of consumers”
The text resulting from the CMP also retains several changes made by the senators, including the supervision of promotions on non-food products and the non-negotiability of agricultural raw materials in products sold under private label.
The extension of the trial of the supervision of the resale threshold at a loss, which was initially due to expire in April, is also shortened from 2026 to 2025 and the fruit and vegetable sector is excluded from this last device.
For Anne-Catherine Loisier, centrist rapporteur for the Senate, the agreement reached “testifies to the shared observation that the imbalance in the balance of power in trade negotiations leads to unacceptable drifts, which must be corrected”. “Parliament is obliged to intervene, not for pleasure, but because the players are playing a game of lying poker which is often to the detriment of consumers, farmers and SMEs”she adds.