Bercy wants to show that he is showing his muscles. In 2023, “more than 95,000 checks were carried out, or 260 per day”, declared the Minister Of SMEs, Trade, Crafts and Tourism, Olivia Grégoire, during the presentation of the results of the 2023 action of the DGCCRF this Friday. All these controls concern both physical establishments and websites. “Consumption is evolving and so are consumer behaviors”. It’s about “to defend consumers against misleading or abusive practices”, she continued. In the context of a sharp surge in prices in 2023, investigators placed emphasis on controls on purchasing power.
Strengthening controls on the most serious frauds and fewer visits
In detail, the checks carried out by the fraud repression resulted in 20,560 warnings and 27,122 injunctions to comply. The administration has issued 164 suspension orders or marketing withdrawals. And more than 3,197 criminal disputes were referred to the public prosecutor’s office. Disputes can concern misleading commercial practices as well as labeling rules, the provenance and origin of products, and the traceability of food products.
Overall, the policy of this direction of Bercy has marked a turning point. “It’s about severely punishing the biggest frauds but also supporting businesses,” declared Sarah Lacoche, the boss of the armed arm of the Ministry of Finance. Its teams carried out “fewer visits” and inflicted “fewer warnings but more repressive actions compared to 2022”. Asked by The gallery, the former advisor to Christine Lagarde at the Ministry of the Economy explained that this strategy “may lead us to carry out fewer controls but it is still a matter of maintaining strong control pressure” on businesses.
Fines very focused on payment deadlines
Last year, fraud enforcement issued a package of fines (2,247) for a total of 49.3 million euros. Of this overall envelope, the majority (34.5 million euros) concerns payment deadlines or invoicing problems. “The fines are very focused on payment deadlines. Our goal is to have faster and more visible sanctions,” said Sarah Lacoche.
The rest of the fines distributed mainly concern (6.3 million euros) canvassing and sales outside establishments such as fairs and markets. And finally, consumer information gaps or even unfair terms (6.2 million euros). On the criminal side, 1,502 transactions were carried out for an amount of 8.8 million euros, according to the activity report unveiled this Friday.
“Shrinkflation” in the sights of fraud repression in 2024
Among the priority areas announced for 2024 by Minister Olivia Grégoire this Thursday is “Shrinkflation”. With prices soaring since 2022, many major retail brands have reduced the quantity of a product while keeping the same packaging.
This commercial practice, sometimes considered misleading, is targeted by fraud prevention. Faced with the development of this strategy, the government has put in place a decree which must come into force next July. “Distributors will therefore have to indicate the reduction in the quantity sold and the increase in the price of the product reduced to the unit of measurement”, explains the Bercy report. This turn of the screw could prove very complicated to implement for a large number of products.
Food: “shrinkflation”, this scheme which aims to reduce quantities to reduce inflation
Fraud repression not affected by budget cuts
In the midst of a budgetary storm, the government announced last February a decree of 10 billion euros aimed at making cuts in state spending. The Ministry of the Economy must also contribute approximately 458 million euros according to the decree published in Official Journal (JO). Concerning financial means, “we are protected from budget cuts”said Sarah Lacoche.
On the staff side, it is ” stability “, added the official. Compared to 2022 (2,885), the workforce has even increased slightly (2,900 in 2023). As the Olympic Games approached, the director announced reinforcements. “This year, our ambition is to strengthen services to apply controls on the sale of goodies, hotels and restaurants”. A decisive moment for the repression of fraud.
