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France, as a member of the European Union (EU), generally follows EU directives, regulations, and obligations.

France is the world’s leading tourist destinations. Revenues are returning to pre-covid standards since France earned 58 billion in 2022 thanks to foreign tourism.

In 2022, the agri-food market in France was strongly impacted by inflation, recorded at 5.3 percent. This price increase has impacted the most modest strata of society and has cut into their ability to buy. Consumers are moving away from big brands to less expensive distributor brands.

In 2022, the French food processing sector encompasses approximately 17,300 companies ranging from small family-owned businesses to some of the world’s largest multinationals.

During Covid-19, the French government designated the retail sector as essential. Retail companies were authorized to continue operations. The nationwide lockdown and the closing of restaurants gave a significant boost to the retail sector.

With 91 million visitors in 2019, France is one of the world’s leading tourist destinations. Tourism accounted for 7.5 percent of GDP, providing employment to 1.5 million people. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the flow of visitors by almost 55 percent, triggering a loss of nearly 160,000 jobs. The Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional (HRI) sector saw a decrease in total sales revenue to $64 billion, a 30 percent decline from the previous year.

As a member of the European Union, France implements EU regulations for the import of animal and plant products. The US export certification requirements for most products are harmonized at the EU level; however, a few products, which are not yet harmonized across the EU, are still subject to French national regulations.

On April 28, 2015, the European Parliament approved the reform of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), which includes a 7 percent cap on food crop based biofuels for the transport sector.

This report provides an overview of the priorities and work plans for 2016 of the different EU institutions (European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Parliament).

For the first time in ten years, sales in the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional (HRI) sector in France decreased by 0.3 percent with estimated sales at $106.10 billion.

France is a member of the European Union (EU) and generally follows EU directives and regulations, including those relating to the importation of food products.