what are the Egalim legal guidelines for? | EUROtoday
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Deving the anger of farmers and three days earlier than the tense opening of the Agricultural Show, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, introduced, Wednesday, an Egalim invoice for “summer”. This new model of the regulation “for balanced commercial relations in the agricultural sector and healthy and sustainable food” would be the fourth adopted by the manager since 2018.
Many occasions circumvented, many occasions corrected, the Egalim legal guidelines try to ensure a hard and fast earnings to French farmers and breeders by permitting them to affect negotiations with producers and mass retailers. Their utility, even their strengthening, is on the coronary heart of the calls for presently made by the farmers' motion.
Guarantee a “fair price” based mostly on manufacturing prices
Resulting from the General States of Food, launched in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron to discover a higher distribution of earnings among the many gamers within the French meals chain, the primary Egalim regulation was adopted on October 2, 2018. It pursues three principal aims, at all times present affairs immediately: paying the “fair price” to producers, strengthening the well being, environmental and dietary high quality of merchandise and selling wholesome, protected and sustainable meals for all.
In its most essential article, the regulation stipulates that “the contract and the associated price will be proposed by the farmers, taking into account production costs”. To assist them, “reference indicators” have to be constructed by interprofessional organizations, accountable for figuring out the manufacturing prices of merchandise. The measure goals to strengthen the burden of producers within the unequal relationships that hyperlink them to agro-industrialists and distributors – controls and sanctions are deliberate to punish corporations that deviate from them.
Selling at a loss can be prohibited for agro-industrialists, whereas supermarkets see their threshold raised by 10% on foodstuffs. One strategy to encourage trickle-down: by requiring massive retailers to generate at the very least a ten% margin on meals merchandise, the authorities hope to get them to raised pay different gamers within the chain – that’s to say producers. , and, on the finish, the producers. In the identical vein, promotions are regulated and should not exceed 34% of the worth and 25% of the quantity of the merchandise.
Other factors mentioned, and nonetheless topic to controversy: the ban on neonicotinoids to “protect bees”, which has since been the topic of standard exemptions, and the duty imposed on collective catering to eat 50% of “sustainable or sustainable” merchandise. beneath indicators of origin and high quality, together with natural.
Report of failure
A yr after its implementation, the results of the regulation are nonetheless awaited. In May 2021, the Minister of Agriculture on the time, Julien Denormandie, ended up reporting failure. “The Egalim law was necessary,” he stated in entrance of the National Assembly, “but it is not sufficient. »
A second law, Egalim II, is therefore adopted in October 2021 to “strengthen and complete” the primary. This makes the a part of the worth equivalent to the price of agricultural uncooked supplies “non-negotiable” in business discussions between producer and distributor and generalizes written contracts between the farmer and the processor to extend value traceability. The indication of the origin of agricultural and meals merchandise, and particularly meat, turns into obligatory, an computerized value revision mechanism is put in place, and suppliers are required to ship the identical value to all distributors.
A 3rd regulation, often called Descrozaille, named after the Renaissance deputy for Val-d'Oise who launched it, was then adopted in March 2023. Criticized by massive retailers, poorly put collectively and “too complex”, by their very own admission from its writer, it goals to fill a authorized void that mass distribution was accused of exploiting to its benefit. Before this regulation, the truth is, throughout negotiations, the costs of the earlier yr had been routinely renewed when producers and supermarkets had been unable to agree on the brand new costs.
More controls
Some manufacturers let discussions drag on in order to not need to bear in mind inflation or the rise in manufacturing prices and hold the identical costs. To stop them, Egalim III authorizes producers to droop their deliveries within the occasion of an absence of settlement, and will increase the utmost quantity of administrative fines to 1 million euros within the occasion of violation of the regulation.
The new regulation additionally extends the ban on negotiations on the price of agricultural uncooked supplies to non-public label merchandise and extends till 2025 the ten% margin obligation launched by Egalim I, apart from greens and recent fruits. Finally, it requires distributors advertising and marketing merchandise in France to respect French regulation within the contracts they conclude with suppliers, with European buying facilities getting used to avoid the regulation and buy French merchandise under their price. manufacturing.
These legal guidelines proceed to be criticized by farmers, who denounce their lack of utility and their persistent difficulties in promoting their merchandise on the proper value.
While ready for the presentation, promised for the summer season, of a textual content aimed directly once more strengthening the Egalim system, Marc Fesneau, the Minister of Agriculture, and Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, have warned of a “doubling of controls” and the issuance of fines of two% of the turnover of fraudulent corporations. Controls may also have an effect on European buying facilities, assured Bruno Le Maire, whereas a “European Egalim” was talked about by Gabriel Attal.
But these bulletins weren’t sufficient to calm the anger of farmers, whose unions proceed to name for mobilization to keep up strain on the federal government. Some additionally need Egalim to go additional: the Peasant Confederation believes, for instance, that the subsequent regulation ought to set up a purchase order assure at a value overlaying the associated fee value, and never simply manufacturing prices, with a purpose to additionally bear in mind the farmer's wage and his social safety contributions.
https://www.lepoint.fr/economie/colere-des-agriculteurs-a-quoi-servent-les-lois-egalim-23-02-2024-2553211_28.php