On the eve of a meeting between the Minister of the Economy and distributors on inflation, the CEO of Carrefour said on Tuesday that he would ask Bruno Le Maire “a moratorium” on the application of the Descrozaille law, which governs the promotions of certain products and is due to come into force in March 2024.
I am going to ask him for a one-year moratorium on the application of the law Descrozaille voted last March and which leads (distributors) to have to limit promotions in drugstores, for care and hygiene products 34%, has he developed on Franceinfo.
Today I can sell laundry 50 or 60% off, he explained. But from the application of this bad law as he describes it, Carrefour like the other distributors will be obliged to limit itself to 34%.
Alexandre Bompard lamented that consumers, hit by inflation, are depriving themselves of essential products such as feminine protection, nappies, toothpaste, which are experiencing double-digit sales declines.
The Descrozaille law benefits only three large global multinationals, estimated the CEO, who cited Procter & Gamble, Henkel and Unilever.
Backed by Renaissance deputy Frdric Descrozaille, the text was decried by distributors, one of the main points of tension relating to the 34% cap on shock promotions on non-food products, deemed irresponsible and inflationary by the employers’ federation of large retailers. , FCD.
Deputies and senators had however maintained the cap, but agreed to postpone the entry into force to March 1, 2024.
Distributors and manufacturers are again invited to Bercy this week, Wednesday morning for distributors, Thursday for manufacturers, to ask them to extend their operations, which have worked, said Bruno Le Maire on France Inter on Monday.
Manufacturers explained before the summer that they had made an effort, generally in the form of temporary promotions, on the price of around 1,000 products from major brands.
Before the manufacturers, the supermarkets had on their side committed themselves in mid-March, within the framework of a commercial operation not very restrictive called quarter anti-inflation – since extended -, to sell a selection of products left to their discretion, at the most possible low.