April 1, 2016

Heavier fines for French food companies that fail to release annual results

France is planning to raise fines for food companies that fail to release annual results, EurActiv reported.

The move is part of government efforts to support transparency in price talks which had affected farmers. Unreleased results cause difficulties in fixing margins along the food chain, said Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll.

Fines would amount up to 2% of the guilty firms' daily sales in France for each day of not publishing results after the deadline has passed.

As meat and dairy markets faced a downturn, livestock farmers took to protests in the last few months. Low prices for meat and dairy, according to French farmers, suffered a turn for the worse due to intense price negotiations between food processors and retailers.

Bigard, France's largest beef processor and a major pork producer, and Lactalis, Europe's biggest dairy group, has been identified by Foll for not publishing results.

The companies are legally obligated to file their results with a local business court within two months of approval at shareholder meetings.