National watchdog exposes fraudulent 'Made in France' products

After carrying out a national survey of a thousand companies claiming their products were "Made in France", the country's fraud control agency has reported that 15 percent of brands were not what was advertised on the label.

A visitor wears a tote bag reading "Made in France", during the inauguration of the "Made in France" exhibition organised at the Elysee Palace in Paris in July 2021. (Illustration photo) © AFP/Ludovic Marin

The French government's anti-fraud and consumer rights agency – DGCCRF – said it has issued 87 warnings, 54 compliance injunctions, two administrative reports and 14 criminal reports for "misleading commercial practices concerning the origin of products".

According to the DGCCRF, these interventions were related to non-food products – such as masks and hydroalcoholic gels massively sold during the Covid health crisis – and various other sectors, including jewellery, eyewear, cosmetics, textiles and furniture, all while the 10th edition of the "Made in France" trade fair comes to an end in Paris this Monday.

📆 Cette semaine, retrouvez la #DGCCRF au Salon du Made in France du 10 au 13 novembre à Paris, Porte de Versailles – Pavillon 3 au stand C 81 avec @douane_france
Pour plus informations, c'est par ici 👇https://t.co/REKuS0Pnot pic.twitter.com/sZdkdFjqU1

— DGCCRF (@dgccrf) November 7, 2022

Investigations also included online sales sites to reportedly "check the veracity of claims on their national ("Made in France") or local ("Made in Brittany"...) origin, and anomalies were found in 15 percent of the professionals checked.

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Mattress seller, cosmetics company or underwear brand

Amongst those implicated in marketing fraud was a mattress seller who could not "justify either the design or the French manufacture" of his products, even though flyers and an advertising panel indicated "French manufacture/design" or "European". 

The case was was the subject of an official report sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office for "misleading commercial practices".

Meanwhile, regarding a cosmetics company whose communication strategy focused on the French origin of its products labelled "Made in France",  it was found that nearly three quarters of the brand's products were manufactured in Spain.

In another instance, the e-commerce website of an underwear brand 'claiming to have the Origine France Garantie (OFG) label', was closed down after an investigation found that its products were not OFG-certified.

The DGCCRF says it will continue its checks on the origin of brands "in view of the growing appeal of French and local products to consumers, and in order to support industrial relocation in France," and has reminded consumers who have doubts about the real origin of a product, that they can report it on the SignalConso website.

(with newswires)