The French National Assembly has just passed a bill aimed at giving more weight to the industry in negotiations with retailers.
So far, in France, if suppliers and retailers had not reached an agreement about the conditions and selling price in their commercial negotiations by March 1, they would have to use the price of the previous year until they reached an agreement.
The approved bill, which now has to be debated in the Senate, establishes that in case of failure in the negotiations by March 1, a transitional period of one month would be opened, during which the parties would try to reach an agreement under the supervision of a commercial relations mediator. If, after one month, no agreement could be reached, the parties would then be free to break their contract: the supplier could decide not to deliver, and the distributor not to be delivered.
This bill has been very well received by the FNSEA and JA agricultural organizations, who praised the deputies for having passed it despite the significant pressures from distributors to block the text.
In turn, the distribution sector has completely opposed this proposal.
Source: agrodigital.com
