Relationship between farmers and large retailers: are the Egalim laws effective ?

With Egalim 2, large retailers and manufacturers are required to pay for agricultural products taking into account the increase in production costs. MAXPPP – Grégory YETCHMENIZA

These are laws intended to guarantee better remuneration for farmers in their negotiations with large retailers.

Gabriel Attal, Prime Minister, in his speech on Wednesday February 21, announced an evolution of the Egalim law, also called the Agriculture and Food law, &amp ;quot;by the end of summer". This is to better take into account the "farmers' cost of production". This announcement sounds like an admission: the two Egalim laws, passed to provide better remuneration for farmers, are still ineffective. Even if they have enabled progress.

What is this acronym Egalim ? The first Egalim law, known as Egalim 1, passed in October 2018, was promulgated on November 1, 2019. It is ' acts as a law "for the balance of commercial relations in the agricultural sector and healthy and sustainable food". Two years later, in October 2021, the Egalim 2 law was then passed. It introduces "new regulatory and transparency mechanisms for the benefit of a better remuneration of French farmers.

"Increase protection for farmers"

A new law, called Egalim 3, was adopted in May 2023. Its ambition: "to increase the protection of farmers in their commercial relations with the large distribution". With the introduction of a particular measure, give suppliers the possibility of interrupting deliveries or applying a notice of termination, in the event of failure of the annual negotiation.

A year ago, during the Agricultural Show, the Aveyron cooperative group Unicor signed, with Carrefour, the first Egalim contract relating to large cattle. “This contract with Carrefour takes into account 80% of production costs. This is therefore excellent news for the farmers of our territory", underlined Jean-Claude Virenque, its president.

There is a "lack of transparency"

But Egalim still has some flaws, believes Nicolas Bringer, boss of Hyper U in Mende and president of the U Cooperative for the South of France. He believes that manufacturers, who must specify the degree of agricultural raw material integrated into their cost prices, be transparent.  "The Egalim law has a small failing that, it allows suppliers not to disclose their share of agricultural raw materials to us, but to provide a certificate from the auditors.

He believes that this simple statement, introduced in Egalim 2, is "problematic". The reason ? "We are obliged to accept, but it's difficult to trust when we don'reality of the price raw materials". He notes that "70% of suppliers are releasing this option. It's a way of avoiding transparency. "The industrialists don't want to to reveal their production secrets", replies Florence Jammaers,  consulting manager within the Breton firm Talenez Toadenn, which supports industrialists within the framework of Egalim.