Are farmers getting good news? Bruno Le Maire, on Monday July 4, announced that he would launch a mission of the General Inspectorate of Finance to enforce the Egalim law which requires distributors to sell food products at a minimum margin of 10% in favor of producers.

Bruno Le Maire stated, “I want to ensure that this 10% goes back towards the producers” and “I’ll launch a mission out of the General Inspectorate for Finance in the very near future”.

He added that he would like to include representatives from the agricultural world and parliamentarians to make sure that the 10% above the resale threshold at loss goes well for producers and not lost elsewhere. .

In 2018, the Food or “Egalim”, law was passed with very low inflation. It had in particular restricted promotions and raised the threshold of resale at loss. This was done in an effort to stem the race for low prices in shops, which was meant to benefit farmers’ income.

Bruno Le Maire suggested that if it is found that the provisions of the law are not beneficial to producers, then “it will be necessary for them to consider the possibility of changing them”. He said one to the Ministry of the Economy. This would allow for promotions at 50 % instead of the current 34%.

Given the rising price of goods, Michel-Edouard Leclerc (chairman of the E. Leclerc strategic committee) had requested in April that the 10% rule be partially suspended in order to lower the selling prices.

He deemed “suspicious,” last week, certain price increases that food manufacturers demanded as part of the annual renegotiations of food prices.

He also requested the creation of a parliamentary inquiry commission, which was accepted by La France insoumise on Friday.

The Senate, for its part, has pledged to conduct a “first evaluation” of inflation causes on July 20, as part of the ongoing monitoring of the Egalim law.

Bercy has noted that more than 1,200 checks have been conducted by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention since the start of the year in food sector. Bruno Le Maire stated that these checks will be strengthened through investigations by the entire sector. He insisted that “we will not allow the profiteers to the crisis pass.”

Companies can report any price formation “irregularities”, starting Tuesday, at a “one-stop shop”.