the essential
The Peasant Confederation is launching the race for the chamber of agriculture in Lot-et-Garonne. With the main objective of making their arguments heard, particularly on free trade agreements.
The Peasant Confederation will present a list for the elections to the Chamber of Agriculture of Lot-et-Garonne, headed by Emmanuel Aze and Marion Debats. “The list is final, only the order of members has not yet been fixed,” confides Emmanuel Aze. The Peasant Confederation has decided to focus its campaign on current issues: farmers' remuneration and the problems linked to free trade treaties which penalize French farmers.
“Mercosur will especially impact breeders”
The union took action on Friday, November 15 in front of the Mercedes-Benz dealership (see box), to denounce the European Union-Mercosur (South America) treaty “which provides for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of tons of agricultural raw materials, particularly from livestock farming, in exchange for a reduction in customs duties on European products, notably cars. We are talking about 100,000 tonnes of beef, 45,000 tonnes of honey, 185,000 tonnes of chicken and even 25,000 tonnes of pork. »
The EU-Mercosur treaty is still in the advanced negotiation phase between the different parties. Its ratification could take place in Brasilia, Brazil, during the G20 summit on November 18 and 19, coinciding with the start of agricultural mobilization in the Southwest.
Emmanuel Aze specifies: “The agreement with Mercosur will especially impact breeders, with products which absolutely do not respect French standards and which will flood the market. All at low prices and with very few customs duties. This will complete French livestock farming, already weakened by the numerous additional production costs linked to diseases affecting livestock. »
The agricultural union denounces the “collapse” of many French agricultural sectors because of free trade treaties.
“The crisis affects all productions”
“We talk a lot about the treaty with Mercosur, but a much more problematic free trade zone for our farmers is the single European market,” explains the president of the Lot-et-Garonne Peasant Confederation. Today, we only produce 30% of the fruit we consume. This means that we import 70% of it. For vegetables, we are around 50% self-producing. In addition, we have delegated entire sectors to countries facing climate chaos, such as Spain. We are thus putting our food sovereignty and security at risk. »
During their campaign, members of the Confédération paysanne du Lot-et-Garonne will also address the agroecological transition, “which should not rest solely on the shoulders of farmers”. “We are in favor of phasing out pesticides, but all of society must contribute to this effort. We farmers have already paid a heavy price. The crisis affects all production and all modes of production. »
