The issue found itself at the heart of the farmers' angry movement.
Is the French origin of products, displayed on supermarket shelves, still reliable?
The Ministry of the Economy indicated this Wednesday that 683 establishments out of 2,000 controlled by its services presented “anomalies” concerning the French origin of their food products, according to a press release.
At the beginning of February, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire announced that 10,000 checks on the French origin of products would be carried out in 2024 by the services of the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Prevention. (DGCCRF).
“Nearly 2,000 checks have already been carried out at all stages of marketing: 683 establishments are found to have anomalies” and the checks covered “all raw and fresh food products, particularly in the fruit and vegetable sectors, meat and alcoholic beverages,” Bruno Le Maire and Minister for Business Olivia Grégoire indicated on Wednesday.
“In total, 683 establishments are in anomalies.
413 warnings will be sent to establishments whose non-compliance results from a lack of knowledge of the regulations,” it is detailed.
“For the most serious breaches, 130 requests for compliance will be made by way of injunction, 2 administrative fines will be issued and nearly 150 criminal reports will be sent to the courts,” continues Bercy.
Deceptive business practice
He recalls that “francization” – that is to say “announcing a French origin for a product such as fruits and vegetables, meat, which is not” – “constitutes a misleading commercial practice, punishable up to 'to 2 years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros for individuals and up to 10% of turnover for legal entities.'
In these proven cases of “francization,” “the consumer is deceived, pays too much and may be disappointed by the quality of the product;
French producers suffer from unfair competition, unfairly lose outlets and cannot develop,” adds the ministry.
Also read: In supermarkets, the blurring of foreign products camouflaged under French logos and flags
In February, Bruno Le Maire had already announced that 1,000 establishments had been checked on the French origin of the products sold, and that 372 were in non-compliance.
“DGCCRF controls will continue throughout 2024,” the press release specifies.