In 2022, the French cattle industry made a significant contribution to the country’s agriculture, producing over 23 billion litres of cow's milk and rearing over four million cattle for slaughter. Production activities primarily involve livestock farmers. There are a great many of them, and they sell their produce to a small number of buyers. As a result of this imbalance, buyers benefit from an advantageous balance of power in negotiations. The EGAlim 2 law introduced the requirement for multi-year written contracts in the beef and dairy cattle supply chains. The Court of Accounts decided to conduct a flash audit, starting on 8 September 2023, to examine the controls carried out by the Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) on contracts concluded between producers and first buyers in these sectors. The DGCCRF’s control activities are one of the only tools available for assessing the implementation of EGAlim. This audit reports on the resources mobilised by the DGCCRF and draws some initial conclusions.
