Trade demands halt to bulk discounting

French booksellers are hoping that Culture Minister Catherine Tasca will soon take action to halt the deepening discounts that are being granted on bulk purchases of books by schools, libraries and works councils.

The French booksellers associations, Syndicat de la Librairie Française (SLF) and Syndicat National d'Edition (SNE) have both lobbied for a ceiling of at least 5% on discounts, in line with the Loi Lang r.p.m. agreement for books sold through bookshops.

The exception from the Loi Lang of books supplied to institutional bodies, including schools and libraries, has caused discounts to grow from 12% to 17% over the past 10 years, with some as high as 30%.

Several members of parliament have taken up the issue of discounting during the government's question time recently.

"It is a complicated and politically sensitive issue," said one source, who asked to remain anonymous. "A number of politicians say they are in favour of a ceiling, but they know it would increase their spending." Any change would have to go before parliament.

Either way, it could not be adopted before the end of this year at the earliest, the source said.