“Let’s not import what is forbidden to produce here”

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“In France, farms are, on average, 62 ha compared to 10,000 ha in South America.” By these figures alone, the Young Farmers of Finistère affirm, “we will never be competitive “. While Mercosur is at the heart of the G20 discussions, they strongly oppose to this free trade agreement. And intend to make it known.

No to distortions of competition

Field work not yet finished in Finistère, they have chosen not to demonstrate in the streets at the start of the week, unlike many of their French colleagues. And they arranged to meet the press at the home of Guillaume and André Liziart, milk producers in Saint-Divy, on November 15, to explain this.

“With this agreement, we will see the arrival on the European market molecules that we no longer use for 30 years », affirms Yann Le Gac, president of the JA, citing, among others, growth hormones, commonly used on livestock in South America. “Let us not import what is forbidden to produce here and which the consumer does not want ! The Mercosur countries do not impose the same standards as Europe, in terms of environmental, social, animal welfare… And their production costs are inferior.

And there is a great risk of seeing French supermarkets sourcing their supplies from South America, customs duties being deleted. “We are talking about 99,000 t of beef, 25,000 t of pork, 180,000 t of poultry meat, which will pull our market prices down.”

Find allies

“The French State must find allies in Europe to oppose the Mercosur agreements”, urge the Young Farmers, castigating Germany or Spain, ready to sacrifice their agriculture to have access to the South American market for their cars, their industry… “In a tense global climate, with the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, our food must not depend only on distant countries ».

Ensuring generational renewal

The JA also take the opportunity to remind the French State that most of the measurements obtained during the events at the start of the year have still not been validated, the pact and the agricultural orientation and future law having been blocked following the dissolution of the National Assembly. “There is always unhappiness in the countryside,” notes Maxime da Rocha. “And twice as many farmers in difficulty as last year.” It is difficult, in such conditions, to ensure generational renewal, when one in two farmers is preparing to retire in the next 10 years.

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