Under French law T&Cs of sale from a supplier may differ from a reseller to another, depending on their category

Under French law T&Cs of sale from a supplier may differ from a reseller to another, depending on their category (retailers, wholesale…). French administrative decree called « Dutreil » had confirmed so in 2005. Hagelsteen Report could aim at adapting the prohibition of non equal treatment between distributors having same purchase conditions and thus permit some negotiation of the T&CS of sale deemed « baseline of commercial negotiation » by French legal provisions but then this would open opportunity of negotiating sale prices and discounts proposed by a supplier to all distributors… Law now runs after practical use under which the execution of any supplier selection agreement and annual contracts, containing purchase conditions and services conditions, are prerequisite to any discussion on the supplier’s T&Cs of sale concerning sale conditions (« cart before horse »). To date, any non equal treatment has to be justified and proportionate. The above report to be relased in a couple of days could critically modify this.

Frédéric Fournier, Partner