DGCCRF request for documents: how to respond (L. 512-8)

DGCCRF request for documents: what the authority can demand

Under Article L. 512-8 of the French Consumer Code, DGCCRF and DDPP agents can require any document that helps their investigation, from your company or from anyone who holds it, on any medium. You cannot refuse, because obstructing the agents is a criminal offence punishable by two years' imprisonment and a €300,000 fine. What you control is how you answer: the scope, the format, the timing and the explanations that go with the documents.

Updated: November 2026. Key provisions: Articles L. 512-3, L. 512-4, L. 512-8, L. 512-10, L. 512-11, L. 512-15 and L. 531-1 of the French Consumer Code (Code de la consommation).

A letter from the DGCCRF (the French authority for competition, consumer affairs and fraud control) or from a DDPP (its local office in each département) asking for documents within a set deadline is often the first written step of an investigation. Behind a neutral list of documents, the authority may be looking at your whole sales model: contracts, terms and conditions, advertising, website, sales scripts. The first answer weighs heavily on what follows, whether the file is closed or leads to an injunction, an administrative fine or a criminal referral for a misleading commercial practice. This guide explains what can be demanded, how the deadline and the format work, and what happens if you refuse, stay silent or answer late. For the wider picture, see our page for a lawyer for DGCCRF and DDPP inspections.

The legal basis: a power to require, not a request for help

Who can ask

The request comes from agents of the DGCCRF, who are empowered to investigate and record breaches of the Consumer Code (Article L. 511-3). In practice, the letter is signed by an agent working in a DDPP, at the DGCCRF itself or in a DREETS, the regional office that handles business-to-business matters. Before sending anything, check who signed the letter, which office they belong to, which legal basis is cited, what the investigation is about and when the deadline expires. These elements frame the whole answer.

What Article L. 512-8 actually says

The text is short. Agents can require the communication of documents of any kind that help them carry out their task, and can obtain them or take copies, by any means and on any medium, or seize them, whoever holds them (Article L. 512-8). Three consequences follow:

• Any kind of document: paper or electronic, accounting or commercial, internal or sent to customers.
• Any holder: the request can go to your company, but also to your accountant, your web agency, your logistics provider or your business partners.
• Copy or seizure: the agents are not limited to receiving what you choose to send. They can take copies or seize documents themselves.

How the letter is built

The letter usually cites the legal basis (in particular Articles L. 511-3 and L. 512-8), describes the subject of the investigation in general terms, lists the documents requested and sets a deadline. Article L. 512-8 does not require the agents to explain what triggered the investigation. A consumer complaint, a report from another office, a national investigation programme or a routine check can all lead to the same kind of letter.

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Document request or dawn raid: two different procedures

The ordinary investigation

A request for documents belongs to the ordinary investigation powers. No judge's authorisation is needed. Agents can enter business premises between 8 am and 8 pm, and outside those hours when the premises are open to the public or activity is under way (Article L. 512-5). They can collect, on site or by summons, any information, justification or document needed for the inspection (Article L. 512-10), and require documents of any kind (Article L. 512-8). Contrary to a common belief, these ordinary powers already include the right to seize documents (Article L. 512-8).

Visits and seizures authorised by a judge

For the most serious matters, agents can, at the request of the Minister for the Economy, carry out visits and seizures in any place (Article L. 512-51). Each visit must be authorised by an order of the liberty and custody judge (juge des libertés et de la détention) of the judicial court, and judicial police officers attend (Article L. 512-52). The visit takes place under the authority and control of that judge (Article L. 512-53). It cannot start before 6 am or after 9 pm, unless the order expressly allows it for business premises that are not also used as a home (Article L. 512-56). The order is served on the spot, and the occupant can call a lawyer, but doing so does not suspend the operations (Article L. 512-58). The order can be appealed before the first president of the court of appeal within ten days of notification, and the appeal does not suspend it (Article L. 512-63).

The two procedures should not be confused. A letter asking for documents within a deadline is not a dawn raid, and a dawn raid is not answered with a cover letter. Identifying which one you are facing is the first step.

What the agents can ask for

Documents of any kind (Article L. 512-8)

Requests commonly cover company documents (extract from the trade and companies register, articles of association), terms and conditions, standard contracts, order forms, quotes and invoices, advertising, website pages, emails and newsletters sent to customers, sales scripts, training materials and commission rules for sales staff, customer complaints and how they were handled, and contracts with subcontractors, call centres or lead providers. The list is never closed: the text covers documents of any kind.

Information and explanations (Article L. 512-10)

Agents are not limited to existing documents. They can collect, on site or by summons, any information, justification or document needed for the inspection. They can also interview anyone likely to provide useful information, in a written report that includes the questions asked and that the person reads and signs. If there are plausible reasons to suspect an offence, the interview follows the rules of the voluntary interview (audition libre) under Article 61-1 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure: information on the suspected offence, the right to leave, the right to remain silent and, where the offence carries a prison sentence, the right to a lawyer. Our article on why a DGCCRF, DDPP or DREETS summons is not a formality covers the interview in detail.

Computer data, software and algorithms (Article L. 512-11)

When documents exist in electronic form, agents have access to the software, the stored data and the algorithms, and can ask any person for help to use them. On request, documents must be provided on a computer medium and in a form that allows the information to be processed (Article L. 512-11). A scanned printout of a spreadsheet may therefore not be enough if the agents ask for the file itself.

Evidence behind advertising claims (Article L. 512-15)

To investigate misleading commercial practices, agents can require the person responsible for the practice to provide everything that justifies its claims, statements or presentations, including where that evidence is held by a manufacturer established outside France. They can also require the advertiser, the advertising agency or the media owner to provide the advertisements that were published (Article L. 512-15). For foreign groups, this means that a French subsidiary or distributor may be asked for evidence held by the parent company or the manufacturer abroad. Our guide to deceptive marketing practices in France explains what the authority looks for.

Professional secrecy and lawyer-client confidentiality

Article L. 512-3 is blunt: professional secrecy cannot be raised against agents acting within their powers. Banking secrecy or the duty of discretion of your accountant are therefore not grounds to refuse, and a confidentiality clause agreed with a business partner cannot override the legal obligation to provide documents.

Correspondence with your lawyer is in a different position. Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971 on the legal profession states that, in all matters, advice sent by a lawyer to a client, correspondence between client and lawyer, meeting notes and, more generally, all documents in the lawyer's file are covered by professional secrecy. Which documents fall within that protection, and how they are identified in the answer, should be settled with your lawyer before anything is sent.

Deadline, format and cover letter

Who sets the deadline

The Consumer Code does not set a fixed period for answering a request for documents. The deadline is the one stated in the letter, or the one given orally during a visit, which should then be confirmed in writing. Note the date of receipt and keep the envelope or the delivery receipt.

Asking for more time

If the volume of documents, archives kept off site, holidays or the need to collect documents from third parties or from abroad make the deadline unrealistic, ask for an extension in writing, before the deadline expires, with the reasons and a proposed date. Keep the agent's written answer. An extension agreed in writing protects the company; a deadline missed without explanation can be examined as obstruction.

Format and language

Send documents in a form the agents can use. If they ask for electronic files that can be processed, Article L. 512-11 requires you to provide them in that form. Number the documents, list them in a schedule and keep an identical copy of everything sent, with the date of sending. If some documents are in English or another language, agree in writing with the agent whether a translation is expected, and for which documents.

The cover letter

Documents are rarely sent on their own. A short cover letter explains how the company is organised, which version of each document applied during the period covered, which requested documents do not exist (rather than leaving a gap unexplained), and what has already been corrected. It also states any reservations: documents protected by lawyer-client confidentiality, documents held by third parties, documents that will follow. The letter becomes part of the file, so its wording should be reviewed by your lawyer before it is sent.

Refusal, silence or late answer: the obstruction offence

What the law says (Articles L. 512-4 and L. 531-1)

Article L. 512-4 prohibits obstructing agents in the exercise of their functions. Article L. 531-1 punishes obstruction with two years' imprisonment and a €300,000 fine. The fine can be raised, in proportion to the benefits derived from the offence, to 10% of average annual turnover, calculated on the last three annual turnovers known at the date of the facts.

A refusal is the obvious case, but not the only one. An answer that is deliberately incomplete, documents altered or destroyed after the letter arrived, a "clean" version of the terms and conditions that differs from the one actually used, or a deadline ignored without explanation can all be examined as obstruction. This is why the written record of your exchanges with the agent matters: it shows what was asked, what was sent and why.

Additional penalties (Article L. 531-2)

Individuals found guilty can also be banned, for up to five years, from the activity in which the offence was committed or from running or managing a business. For companies, the maximum fine is five times the fine for individuals (Article 131-38 of the French Criminal Code). The court can add the penalties listed in points 2 to 9 of Article 131-39 of the Criminal Code, such as a ban on the activity concerned, judicial supervision, closure of establishments, exclusion from public contracts, confiscation and publication of the judgment. Dissolution of the company, in point 1, is not among them.

Obstruction and the main investigation

Obstruction is a separate offence. It can be prosecuted on top of the breach the agents were looking into, for example a misleading commercial practice (Article L. 132-2), and on top of any administrative fine. A file that started as a routine check of terms and conditions can thus turn into criminal proceedings against the company and its manager because of the way the request was handled. As obstruction carries a maximum of two years' imprisonment, it is one of the offences for which the authority can offer a criminal settlement (transaction pénale), with the prosecutor's approval, as long as prosecution has not started (Article L. 523-1).

Silence from the authority after you have answered

Once the documents have been sent, silence does not mean the file is closed. The investigation can continue with further requests, interviews or visits. It can then end with no further action, an injunction to comply (Article L. 521-1), a proposed administrative fine, on which the company has one month to submit observations (Articles L. 522-5 and R. 522-2), or a report sent to the public prosecutor. In an administrative sanction procedure, the documents gathered can be disclosed to the company or its representative (Article L. 522-8). Our page for a lawyer for DGCCRF and DDPP inspections sets out these later stages.

Frequently asked questions

Can I refuse to answer a DGCCRF request for documents?

No. Refusing is obstruction, an offence punishable by two years' imprisonment and a €300,000 fine, which can be raised to 10% of average annual turnover in proportion to the benefits derived (Articles L. 512-4 and L. 531-1). The right approach is a controlled answer: complete on what is asked, precise on scope and period, and accompanied by a cover letter.

Can I rely on business confidentiality to withhold documents from the DGCCRF?

No. Professional secrecy cannot be raised against the agents (Article L. 512-3), and a contractual confidentiality clause does not override the legal obligation. Correspondence with your lawyer is protected by Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971; identify it with your lawyer before sending anything.

How long do I have to answer a DGCCRF request for documents?

The deadline is the one set by the authority in its letter; the Consumer Code does not fix a period. If it is too short, ask for an extension in writing before it expires, give your reasons and keep the written answer.

Should I call a lawyer as soon as the letter arrives?

Yes, ideally before anything is sent. The first days decide the scope of the answer, which documents are covered by lawyer-client confidentiality and what the cover letter says. A short first call is usually enough to set the timetable.

Can the DGCCRF search our premises without warning?

Yes, but only with a judge's order. Visits and seizures require an order from the liberty and custody judge, take place with judicial police officers present (Article L. 512-52) and cannot start before 6 am or after 9 pm unless the order allows it (Article L. 512-56). The order can be appealed within ten days, but the appeal does not suspend it (Article L. 512-63). An ordinary inspection visit, by contrast, needs no judge and can take place without notice during the hours set by Article L. 512-5.

Can the DGCCRF ask for our sales call scripts?

Yes. Scripts, training materials and sales dashboards are documents of any kind within Article L. 512-8, and they are commonly requested in distance selling and telephone canvassing cases. They must be provided as they were actually used. Context on how sales staff are trained and supervised can be given in the cover letter.

What is the fine for missing pre-contractual information in France?

Failing to give the pre-contractual information required by points 1 to 4 and 6 of Article L. 111-1 and by Articles L. 111-2 and L. 111-3 can lead to an administrative fine of up to €3,000 for an individual and €15,000 for a company (Article L. 131-1). The authority must first follow the adversarial procedure described in the next answer.

How does the sanction procedure work after the investigation?

Before any fine, the authority sends a copy of the report (Article L. 522-4), then informs the company in writing of the intended sanction and invites written and, where applicable, oral observations within one month (Articles L. 522-5 and R. 522-2). The company can be assisted by counsel of its choice. After that period, the authority can impose the fine by a reasoned decision, which can be challenged before the administrative court.

Our company is based outside France. Can the DGCCRF ask us for documents?

Article L. 512-8 allows agents to require documents whoever holds them, and Article L. 512-15 expressly covers evidence for advertising claims held by a manufacturer established outside France. A request addressed to a French subsidiary, distributor or importer may therefore cover documents held by the parent company or the manufacturer abroad. How a request reaches a company with no establishment in France, and how it can be enforced, depends on the situation and should be reviewed case by case.

Conclusion

A request for documents is not a sanction. It is the stage where the company still controls most of the file: what is sent, in what form and with which explanations. Refusing is never an option, but answering in a rush is often the most expensive mistake. Have the request and the draft answer reviewed before anything leaves the company. For a first call, by video or phone and in English if you wish, book a slot online.

Further reading in English:

• Lawyer for DGCCRF and DDPP inspections
• Deceptive marketing practices: a practical guide
• Unfair commercial practices in France
• Mistakes during a DGCCRF interview

Article written by Guillaume Leclerc, lawyer at the Paris Bar, 34 avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Working languages: French and English.