Pesticides authorized in Europe should “also be authorized in France”, insists the Minister of Agriculture

The Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard, visiting Pas-de-Calais on Thursday, once again considered that pesticides authorized in Europe should be authorized “also in France”in order to ensure the “sustainability” of French agricultural sectors. “We cannot consider that the 26 other European countries which grant treatment authorizations (phytosanitary, Editor’s note) do so with disregard for the health of their population”declared the minister during a press point following her visit to an endive farm in La Couture, near Béthune. “So why do we have overtranspositions, that’s the question”she declared before adding that “the debate will take place in Parliament”. “It’s a complicated question but I place myself resolutely from the producers’ point of view, I don’t want to leave producers in disarray or even despair at the loss of their sectors”argues the minister.

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Unfair competition

This is Annie Genevard's first trip to the region since the start on Monday of a national mobilization of farmers, who believe they are not receiving enough state aid, nor quickly enough, to make a decent living from their farms. Annie Genevard's comments on pesticides echo those made on Wednesday November 20 by Prime Minister Michel Barnier. “Each of these overtranspositions, when not justified, somewhere creates unfair competition that we ourselves create against our own agricultural, artisanal or industrial businesses”he declared before the Senate.

“We're going to look at each of these overtranspositions. I prefer that this be the subject of bicameral work, between the two chambers… And that we put an end to those which are not justified today and which create this unfair competition”then added Michel Barnier. Asked by AFP to know if the government was ready to reauthorize acetamiprid or other phytosanitary products requested by producers, Matignon indicated on Wednesday: “The pesticide subject is currently being arbitrated”.

Search for alternative solutions

On the ground, the majority union alliance FNSEA-JA as well as the Rural Coordination are defending in particular the return of acetamiprid, an insecticide from the neonicotinoid family, demanded by hazelnut and sugar beet producers. Harmful to pollinators, this pesticide is banned in France but used in other countries of the European Union, notably in Germany.

“We know that we are on a path at the European level and at the French level to reduce phytosanitary products, but we need time to find solutions instead, and that is the difficulty today, this level of 'emergency is not addressed enough'further estimated Annie Genevard. The minister signed on Thursday, November 21, a grant of one million euros over five years to the Association of Endive Producers of France (Apef) for the search for alternative solutions to phytosanitary products. “We have small measures that arrive, but what we want is all of our demands, that we can live from our profession serenely and look forward to the future”reacted at the end of this visit Lucie Delbarre, president of the FDSEA of Pas-de-Calais.