Maintaining the closure of restaurants during the holidays would be "
a disaster
" for foie gras producers, Marie-Pierre Pé, director of the Interprofessional Committee of Foie Gras Palmipeds (CIFOG), told AFP on Tuesday, while the he hypothesis is circulating.
Read also: Poultry and foie gras producers fear a Christmas in small groups
Asked about a closure of restaurants until February to stem the coronavirus epidemic, the Minister of Agriculture Julien Denormandie kicked in on Tuesday morning: “
it is up to the Minister of Health and the Prime Minister to say so.
""
We hope to be able to reopen everything as quickly as possible, but you see as I do the epidemic situation which continues in the country
", added Juien Denormandie on the antenna of the radio RMC, estimating that"
during this period, our role is to support all those who are in distress
”.
"
It's a disaster, if that's it
", reacted to AFP Marie-Pierre Pé.
Also questioned Tuesday morning on RMC / BFMTV on a reopening of bars and restaurants before the beginning of January, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, explained that he could not "
formally answer this question, I can tell you that they cannot will not reopen in early December, that's a fact
”.
For Ms. Pé, the occurrence in Corsica of a first case of avian influenza is by comparison a "
non-event
".
"
For us, avian influenza is almost a non-event, we are so much more mobilized to be with consumers to make these end-of-year celebrations a success, for us, the hassle is no longer there
", she added.
“
Year in and year out, more than 50% (of sales) depend on catering,
” said Ms. Pé, including “
40% for the French market
” which more than ever represents the bulk of sales in the region. sector, which has not yet regained the market shares lost to exports during the last avian influenza epizootics.
Read also: The foie gras sector facing the challenge of overproduction
Regarding the spread of the epizootic, she wanted to be confident, given the measures put in place in recent years to "
very quickly limit animal movements
" and "
alert very quickly
" thanks to a computer database.