We know the complex, even tense, relationships between winegrowers using different cultivation methods: conventional, high environmental value (HVE), organic or biodynamic. The last two accuse the first two of using chemical inputs in the soil and, therefore, of not going far enough in respecting the environment.
This conflict took on a new dimension with the decision of seven associations – including the National Federation of Organic Agriculture (FNAB), the Federal Union of Consumers-Que Choisir and Future Generations – to file a petition on January 20 before the Board of state. The collective denounces a decree and an order of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty of November 18, 2022, relating to the certification of high environmental value. For him, “the HVE label misleads the consumer, justice must prohibit it”. He denounces the fact that “the use of chemical inputs such as particularly harmful synthetic fertilizers and pesticides (…) remains authorized ».
To criticize this HVE certification, born ten years ago in France, these associations rely on several reports from the French Office for Biodiversity, which had pointed out the weaknesses of the system and the last of which, in October 2022, evoked “an imprecise logic of action” and a target “ill-defined and variable”.
bordering on deception
François Veillerette, spokesperson for Future Generations, goes further. In the new provisions, presented in the government decree, “certain CMR products [cancérogènes et/ou mutagènes et/ou reprotoxiques] are still not banned. This does not correspond to the claimed high environmental value, he complains. We have nothing against HVE, but the requirements are not high enough”. Philippe Camburet, the president of the FNAB, goes in the same direction: “We want a virtuous, clear system, with verifiable criteria. Today, consumers are lost in information about the environmental character of a product. »
This is confirmed by a food safety and quality advisor, Laetitia van Vyve: “This HVE logo is perceived as organic or in conversion to organic, including by student winegrowers. This path is carried by very virtuous elements of language, but we must ensure that the practices are up to this language”, she explains. According to this agricultural engineer by training, many labels are on the verge of deception. “When you indicate “zero pesticide residues” on a label, the consumer understands “zero”. In reality, there may be use of inputs, but their traces are below the thresholds set by the regulations. It is therefore an unfair competition with those who do not use any toxic molecule”this encore Laetitia by Vyve.
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