- France
bans imports of food with EU-prohibited pesticides. - Targets
mancozeb, glufosinate, thiophanate-methyl, carbendazim. - Announced
by PM Sebastien Lecornu on January 4.
Food that contains residues of the pesticides glufosinate,
mancozeb, thiophanate-methyl, carbendazim, and benomyl cannot be imported,
according to a regulation issued on Wednesday.
Due to health and environmental risks, these compounds are
currently prohibited for use within the EU, although they were once approved at
low residual levels on imported goods. They are applied to a variety of crops,
including potatoes, wheat, soybeans, avocados, and mangos.
According to the agriculture ministry, France now considers
those maximum residue levels to be excessively high and wants to ensure that
goods entering its market meet the same safety criteria as those employed for
domestic production.
The advertising appears in conjunction with an extraordinary
gathering of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels, where the long-awaited
EU-Mercosur agreement is formally being discussed.
The pact would gradually create what authorities refer to as
the world’s largest free-trade area, encompassing Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina,
Paraguay, and the 27-nation EU, after more than 25 years of
development.
French husbandry organizations, who were previously united
over businesses regarding income, environmental standards, and international
competition, are pressuring Paris to block the transaction due to a surge of
cheaper implications created under laxer restrictions.
The pesticide action has been presented
by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu as a “first step” to shield
farmers and consumers from what Paris views as unfair competition from
manufacturers not subject to EU-level regulations.
Commission officials have stated that they are open to
revisiting laws on trace residues of illegal pesticides, although pointing out
that these compounds now affect just a small part of the bloc’s overall food
imports.
If Brussels approves the French rule, it might set a
precedent for other EU nations wishing to match trade strategy with stricter
domestic environmental and health rules.
Negotiations with Mercosur allies, who have warned against
what they regard as covert protectionism masquerading as conditionality based
on health or the environment, could be made more difficult, though.
How will enhanced checks at French borders be implemented?
France enforces its new import ban through immediate
heightened customs examinations at all anchorages, airfields, and land borders,
targeting food shipments with traces of five EU- banned fungicides.
Customs agents conduct 100 laboratory testing on high- threat
yield like avocados, mangoes, citrus, grapes, soybeans, and potatoes from
non-EU origins, rejecting any discovery above zero forbearance preliminarily
permissible at 0.01 mg/ kg via on- point destruction, return to sender, or
counterblockade.
The decree activates moment with DGCCRF collaboration for
rapid-fire residue analysis, pending EU Commission review on January
20;non-compliant importers face forfeitures up to€ 300,000, aiming to shield
French growers from Mercosur competition while bracing for WTO controversies.
