Barthélémy Philippe / Photo credit: NICOLAS GUYONNET / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 6:46 a.m., February 5, 2024
To calm the anger of farmers, the government announced massive controls on manufacturers and mass retailers. The aim is to crack down on those who cheat on the origin of products. To do this, Fraud Repression can make deductions from products or review professionals' invoices.
This is one of the government's commitments to calm the farmers' revolt. Bruno Le Maire promised to crack down on manufacturers and mass retailers who cheat on the origin of products. Sometimes, a flag or a map of France stuck on a tray of fruit is enough to mislead the consumer. More than 10,000 inspections will be carried out this year by the DGCCRF, with fines of up to 10% of turnover for operators in violation. But, in concrete terms, how do fraud enforcement officers spot these kinds of anomalies?
Go through the bills
The investigations cover the entire chain: producers, cooperatives, wholesalers and mass distribution. Among the investigative techniques, there are product samples. “For example, on honey, we can see that it comes from certain flowers which do not exist in France. So that would mean that the product is not French, if it was stamped like that.” explains Marie Suderie, spokesperson for fraud prevention.
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Another, more classic technique consists of going through professional invoices. "For example, there was a case involving olive oil advertised as 'Vallée des Baux-de-Provence' and when we checked the accounts, we realized that the products actually came from Spain", she tells Europe 1. Last year, fraud enforcement detected at least one anomaly concerning the origin of vegetables in more than a quarter of the establishments visited. And these controls are all the more important as consumers favor local products, to support farmers, or because the French origin of a food is a guarantee of quality.