French Commercial code
In forceI.-Any advertisement aimed at the consumer, broadcast on any medium or visible from outside the point of sale, mentioning a price reduction or promotional price on perishable food products must specify the nature and origin of the products offered and the period during which the offer is maintained by the advertiser. The indication relating to origin shall be in characters of a size equal to that of the price indication.
In the promotion by sales operators of a food product, the term "free" may not be used as a marketing and promotional tool in the context of a commercial relationship.
When such promotional operations are likely, by their scale or frequency, to disrupt markets, an interministerial or, failing that, prefectoral order shall set, for the products concerned, the periodicity and duration of such operations.
Any breach of the provisions of the first to third paragraphs is punishable by a fine of €15,000.
The cessation of advertising carried out in breach of this I may be ordered under the conditions provided for in Article L. 121-3 of the Consumer Code.
II.-For a fresh fruit or vegetable that has been the subject of an agreement on the transfer price between the supplier and its buyer, the announcement of the price, excluding the point of sale, is authorised within a maximum period of three days prior to the first day of application of the announced price, for a period that may not exceed five days from this date.
The agreement on the transfer price shall be formalised in a written contract signed by the parties, a copy of which shall be held by each of them prior to the dissemination of the announcement of the price excluding the place of sale. This paragraph does not apply to price announcements made at the place of unpacking sales mentioned in article L. 310-2 of this code.
III.-In cases where the conditions mentioned in the first paragraph of II are not met, any price announcement, excluding the point of sale, relating to a fresh fruit or vegetable, regardless of its origin, is subject to an inter-trade agreement for a renewable period of one year, concluded in accordance with article L. 632-1 of the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code. This agreement specifies the periods during which such an announcement is possible and its terms and conditions.
This agreement may be extended in accordance with articles L. 632-3 and L. 632-4 of the same code.
IV.-II and III do not apply to fresh fruit and vegetables belonging to varieties not produced in mainland France.
