#2018-938Law on Balancing Trade Relations in Agriculture and Food Sector
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
This law regulates written contracts for the sale of agricultural products in France, except in certain situations like direct consumer sales or charity donations. It requires contracts to include specific terms on pricing, quantity, and other logistics. Violations can result in significant fines. This law impacts producers, buyers, and producer organizations by enforcing more structured and transparent trading agreements.
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Key Changes
- Mandatory written contracts for agricultural sales
- Sanctions for not including specific contract clauses
- Monthly information updates for producer organizations
Obligations
What this law requires
All written contracts for sale of agricultural products delivered in France must include minimum clauses covering: (1) price or price determination criteria and revision methods; (2) quantity, origin, and quality of products; (3) collection or delivery modalities; (4) payment procedures and timelines; (5) contract duration; (6) force majeure rules; (7) termination notice periods and applicable indemnities.
Price determination criteria must incorporate at least one indicator from each of three categories: (1) agricultural production costs and their evolution; (2) agricultural product prices on relevant markets and their evolution; (3) product quantity, composition, quality, origin, traceability, or compliance with specifications.
Agricultural producers must submit a written contract proposal before concluding written sale contracts with first buyers, except when the buyer requires a written contract offer first.
Any refusal or reservations by the first buyer regarding a proposed contract or framework agreement must be motivated in writing and transmitted to the proposing party within a reasonable timeframe relative to the production concerned.
Buyers must transmit monthly to producer organizations or producer associations with framework agreements all individual producer invoice details and all price determination criteria and modalities used for producer purchases.