In the government's table summarizing its 62 commitments in favor of the agricultural world, the ban on thiacloprid is one of those at the "advanced" stage.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had already announced, on February 1, his intention to ban the arrival on French soil of food products treated with this pesticide.
This Wednesday, February 21, he specified that he was going to issue “an order to ban the importation of thiacloprid into France” this Friday, the day before the start of the Agricultural Show, after having notified his decision to the European Commission .
This insecticide, marketed by the Bayer group under different names, is used on fruits and vegetables (potatoes, peaches, etc.).
From the insect-killing neonicotinoid family, it is classified as a “suspected” carcinogen, toxic for reproduction and endocrine disruptor by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
This is why its use has been banned since 2018 in France, and since 2021 throughout the European Union (EU).
The Pesticide Action Network Europe sees it as “an important step to protect the health of citizens, but decided years late”.
Above all, nothing prevents thiacloprid from being used in several countries elsewhere in the world, notably in Latin America and South-East Asia, on products which can then be exported to the EU and end up in our plates.
In Brazil, it is even one of the pesticides whose use is “booming”, worried the Friends of the Earth Europe association in a report published in 2022.
“Every imported batch must be analyzed”
The European Commission has set “maximum residue limits” at fairly low values, but France is therefore determined to go further.
“France is obliged to respect procedures, described in a 2002 regulation, and it would be quite inappropriate for the European Commission to object given that it intended to legislate on this neonicotinoid last November,” believes Alessandra Kirsch, director of the Agriculture Stratégies think tank, who devoted an article to this subject.
Publicity stunt or strong measure?
Contacted to find out the quantities of products treated with thiacloprid, neither the Ministry of Agriculture nor the professional organizations were able to give us precise figures.
“I don’t think it’s important,” comments François Veillerette, spokesperson for the Générations Futures association.
“We have always been in favor of mirror clauses
(a mechanism imposing the same rules and standards on imported products as in France)
.
I note that Gabriel Attal is a recent convert, so good!
» he reacts.
It remains to find the means to control such a ban.
The Prime Minister did not provide details on this point.
“Every batch must be analyzed, at the expense of the importers.
Otherwise, exporters will always be able to say:
No no, it was not treated with thiacloprid
,” believes François Veillerette.