The obligation of contractualization for cattle arouses many reactions

The Besson-Moreau Law makes written contracts mandatory for all cattle sales on January 1, 2022 in beef breeds for young cattle, heifers and cows, and for all cattle with official quality signs.

The National Bovine Federation is organizing information meetings in the departments in December. It is up to the breeder to make an initial contract proposal to the buyer, explains Auvergne Agricole in an article of December 2.

The FNB provides a model contract for the sale of live cattle by a breeder. "The breeder can contract with any type of buyer: trader, slaughterer, butcher, distributor, catering... and fattener in the case of the sale of cattle to be fattened. The breeder can sign contracts with several buyers, including for a same class of cattle."

Unions, the advice given to breeders is to choose the so-called determinable price formula, ie a calculation formula with indicators and mention of the methods of updating their value.

In a press release dated December 14, the FDSEA of Finistère considers that contracting is "a real opportunity to strengthen the bargaining power of breeders." The departmental organization advises its members not to rush, despite the deadline of January 1, 2022, and to consider the opportunity to regroup in a collective economic organization.

"Work has already begun within the FDSEA of Finistère to support the creation of a PO with the breeders who so wish and a meeting is scheduled for January 12 to discuss and concretize this initiative."

The Collective Farmers and Solidarity Traders affirms its opposition to compulsory contractualization, and calls for demonstrations on December 23, 2022 in Clermont-Ferrand. "We want to continue to exercise our professions with freedom. We do not want our commercial relations to be constrained by written, mandatory, multi-year contracts. Contracting must remain a voluntary act. Our industry is so complex that we cannot not commit to contractualization" explains a press release from December 16, 2021. A petition is also posted online.

Elvea France reacted in a press release on December 22, dissociating itself from all anti-contract and anti-Egalim2 demonstrations. “We fully understand the difficulties that this law can cause concerning the implementation of contracts, particularly for the lean categories, and we will support the system as best as possible so that everyone can take ownership of it.

"The Elvea France network must remain pragmatic and put the law into practice" explains Elvea France. “At the national level, certain operators from other professional families have a similar position and are getting ready to apply the provisions of the law” indicates the organization which plans to widely distribute model contracts.

For the Confédération paysanne, the device does not present any real constraint on prices and it requires "that a non-negotiable cost price be the starting point for all commercial negotiations" according to a press release of December 16, while the publication of production cost indicators by Interbev is currently prevented by downstream companies.

The Farmers' Confederation considers that the three-year commitment risks making breeders captive "for the benefit of their buyers who secure themselves in volume of supply." The administrative complexity that contractualization represents is also advanced.

The meat section of the Rural Coordination, for its part, takes a "skeptical but open" position on compulsory contractualisation. “In order to improve the acceptability and the feasibility of this measure”, it asks that this contractualization be limited to 70% of the herds. "Breeders must be able to keep control of part of their marketing."

The meat section of the Rural Coordination announces that it will work with all willing partners to translate the spirit of the law into the field, but has several reservations. "Won't there be a temptation to buy animals abroad? Are our export positions strong enough to impose our production costs?" The organization also wonders if contractualization will not limit the current market effect of rising prices, and whether production costs are reliable enough to avoid falling prices later.

The French Federation of Live Cattle Markets recalls that any transaction on a livestock market is exempt from contractualisation. "Live cattle markets are assimilated to wholesale markets and therefore excluded from the scope of the law (article 1)" explains the organization. "It is a recognition of the specificity of the markets which have always defended the price by putting buyers in competition in a healthy, transparent and immediate framework."