Gabriel Attal, the Prime Minister, indicated this Thursday that he would take “without delay” a “safeguard clause” to prevent the importation into France of fruits and vegetables treated with the pesticide thiacloprid.
A product banned in Europe, but still authorized in several countries.
The European Commission decided in 2020 not to renew the approval of this product.
A powerful insecticide produced by the pharmaceutical company Bayer, based on neonicotinoids.
It had been deemed dangerous for health and the environment by the European Food Safety Authority.
“The use of this pesticide raises environmental concerns, particularly regarding its impact on groundwater, but also on human health, due to its reproductive toxicity,” Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said at the time.
In addition, this product, used since the 1990s for the treatment of many food and forage crops against aphids, would also have harmful effects on bees and pollinators in general.
For Gabriel Attal, this decision represents an example of a “safeguard clause” or “mirror measure” which requires imported products to respect the same rules as those imposed on European farmers to avoid “unfair competition”.