deputies and senators agree to advance trade negotiations

2023-11-06 21:05:00

Deputies and senators agreed on Monday on the progress of commercial negotiations between supermarkets and manufacturers for 2024 during a joint joint committee on the bill known as “ anti-inflation », as announced in a press release from the Senate.

Commercial negotiations: what makes Bercy hope for a drop in prices

These commercial negotiations must conclude on January 15 for companies whose annual turnover does not exceed 350 million euros, and on January 31 for others. This calendar suits us well because it will allow us to quickly obtain substantial price reductions, from January 15 », praised the office of the Minister Delegate in charge of Small and Medium Enterprises Olivia Grégoire during a telephone briefing to the press.

Pass on reductions in production costs more quickly

« The aim of this law is to anticipate in January the impact of falls in the price of raw materials which would otherwise only have been reflected in March. », insists a press release from the Ministry of the Economy. “ Numerous declines continue and must be passed on to the consumer: for example this month, the prices of soft wheat, durum wheat, sunflower, corn and rapeseed are, on average, significantly lower than those of November 2022. There will therefore be price reductions “, further states the press release.

Food inflation returned to 7.7% in October, compared to 9.7% in September or 15.9% last March, according to Bercy. Annual commercial negotiations between manufacturers and distributors usually end on March 1, but the government has decided to bring them forward in the hope of passing on reductions in the cost of certain raw materials more quickly in store prices.

Doubts of political groups and parliamentarians

These negotiations make it possible to set the conditions (purchase price, shelf space, promotional calendar, etc.) under which supermarkets obtain supplies for the entire year from their agro-industrial suppliers. On October 26, the Senate had already voted in favor of moving forward with these negotiations but with a timetable slightly postponed compared to that voted by the deputies.

The National Assembly then adopted a deadline for negotiations of December 31 for companies with an annual turnover of less than 350 million euros and January 15 for others. The senators had wanted to delay the calendar by two weeks, to January 15 and 31 respectively. The Senate should adopt this bill on Thursday then the National Assembly on November 14.

Food prices: should trade negotiations be fundamentally reformed?

Despite the parliamentary progress of the text, doubts regarding its effectiveness in relation to the objective pursued are growing. Manufacturers are signaling that they will ask for rather higher prices, and distributors are afraid of not being able to impose the reductions they would like. In the Senate, several political groups, as well as the bill’s rapporteur, Anne-Catherine Loisier, expressed their skepticism, or even their fear of a perverse effect of more rapid increases in certain prices. The Fnsea (National Federation of Agricultural Operators’ Unions) and Agricultural Cooperation are warning of the risk of new pressures on producers’ remuneration.