"Made in France": the Fraud Repression reports 15% of offenses at the end of an investigation

Europe 1 with AFP 9:26 p.m., November 10, 2022

The Repression of Fraud announces Thursday that it has conducted a national survey of a thousand companies claiming French manufacture for their products and found 15% of violations, 14 of which resulted in a criminal report for "misleading commercial practices".

At the end of this survey conducted in 2021 among 1,013 establishments, the DGCCRF specifies that it "sent 87 warnings, 54 compliance injunctions, 2 administrative reports and 14 criminal reports for misleading commercial practices on the origin of the products," said a statement.

The online sales sites counted

These checks focused on non-food products, such as masks and hydroalcoholic gels sold massively during the health crisis, from various sectors: jewellery, eyewear, cosmetics, textiles, furniture, indicates the DGCCRF, while the 10th edition of the "Made in France" show until Monday in Paris.

They included online sales sites, to "verify the veracity of the allegations on their origin, national ("Made in France") or local ("made in Brittany" ...), and anomalies were noted in 15 % of professionals checked, indicates the DGCCRF.

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Reports for "deceptive commercial practices"

Among the pinned professionals: a mattress seller on a market who "could not justify either the design or the French manufacture" of his products, while flyers and a billboard indicated "French manufacture / design" or "European", was the subject of a report sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office for "misleading commercial practices".

The same goes for a company in the cosmetics sector - whose name the DGCCRF does not divulge -, with a communication strategy targeted at the French origin of its products labeled "Made in France" while "nearly three quarters of the products of this brand are made in Spain", and that "only the packaging was made in France".

An investigation based on consumer reports

As for the distance selling site of an underwear brand "claiming to have the Origine France Garantie (OFG) label" even though its products were not listed in the list of OFG-certified products, its "website was closed after the control" and it was also the subject of a report sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office for "misleading commercial practices".

It had been the subject of numerous consumer reports, indicates the DGCCRF.

"In view of the growing appeal of consumers for French and local products, and to support industrial relocation to France", the Fraud Prevention Department will continue its checks on the origin of products, she said, recalling that consumers with a doubt about the real origin of a product can make a report on the SignalConso site.