The supermarket chain Carrefour was fined 1.75 million euros by the Paris Commercial Court for “
practices restricting competition
” in the context of negotiations with its suppliers, the ministry announced on Friday. economy.
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The brand, which will have to pay the fine including in the event of an appeal, was condemned on February 22 by the Paris Commercial Court, following an investigation by the Directorate-General for Competition, consumption and the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) carried out in 2016. The DGCCRF criticized Carrefour for having "
demanded from its suppliers an additional distribution discount
" as "
prior to the opening of commercial negotiations
".
This, while "
commercial negotiations can only be initiated on the sole basis of the supplier's general conditions of sale
," Bercy recalls.
Carrefour had also forced the hand of its suppliers "
by means of retaliatory measures comprising a graduated scale of sanctions [...] that the sign had widely implemented
", according to the same press release.
The Commercial Court "
took into account the fact that the intervention of the DGCCRF, in particular because of a search of the premises of the sign, had in fact prevented the latter from recovering the entire amount hoped for by this discount.
".
He also noted that the acts were committed before the entry into force of the Sapin 2 law, "
which increased the ceiling of fines incurred
".
Other distributors pinned by the DGCCRF
Carrefour is not the first distributor pinned by the DGCCRF this year.
Intermarché was assigned in mid-February for “
abusive commercial practices
” of its international purchasing centers, and the Ministry of the Economy had requested a sanction of 150.75 million euros.
In February 2020, Carrefour, Système U and Intermarché were also sanctioned, to the tune of more than 4 million euros in total, for “
non-compliance with the rules
” during the 2019 commercial negotiations.
Trade negotiations, which establish the prices of products sold in supermarkets each year, are the scene of recurring tensions between farmers, food manufacturers and supermarkets.
Serge Papin, former leader of Système U who became a “
mediator
” on this subject, recommends “
the exit from the system of annual negotiations, in favor of multi-year contracts
” which would stipulate the price of agricultural raw materials, taking production costs into account.
