Final stretch for the government mission on the evaluation of the laws governing commercial negotiations between producers, suppliers and distributors, which will serve as a basis for the EGalim 4 law. It should apply to the next tariff discussions, which will begin in the fall and will set the prices of food products on supermarket shelves.
The government had committed to reforming the legislation under pressure from farmers. Charged with this mission by the Prime Minister, on February 22, deputies Alexis Izard (Renaissance, Essonne) and Anne-Laure Babault (MoDem, Charente-Maritime) have already heard nearly seventy speakers: representatives of sectors, inter-professions and labels, federations (FNSEA, ILEC, Ania, FCD, etc.), major food distribution brands. Manufacturers of brands, such as Danone, Fleury Michon or Bel, will be heard, by the end of May, to express their suggestions for improving the texts, which provide, each year, according to a precise timetable, prior contractualization between suppliers and industrialists, so that the latter negotiate on this basis with distributors.
The report must be submitted to the government by the summer. A perfect opportunity for lobbies to make their voices heard after the agricultural crisis and the inflationary peak, as they did with each new version of the text. Because regulations have piled up over the years and attempts to correct their defects, since the law of October 30, 2018, known as “EGalim”, resulting from the General States of Food of 2017. It aimed to balance relations commercial activities in the food sector to ensure better remuneration for farmers, by reversing the construction of prices, by regulating written contracts and by capping promotions on food products.
Negotiations timetable
For farmer representatives, the priority is above all “taking into account production costs, based on indicators set by the inter-professions or, if there is no agreement, by institutesunderlines Patrick Bénézit, vice-president of the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA). The EGalim law mentions these indicators but does not impose them; unfortunately it was not completed and can be circumvented. We could go further and talk about the floor prices put forward by the Head of State, they are intended to cover the farmer’s production costs..
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