Harvester in wheat fields in France Thierry RYO / stock.adobe.com
Just over 11.5 million tonnes of cereals are affected by an administrative decision.
This is an ubiquitous situation for one of the main agricultural powers in the world. From April 25, France will no longer be able to export its cereal production outside of Europe. On this date, the use of phosphine, an insecticide, will indeed be prohibited in France to treat cargoes of cereals in the holds of ships. However, the fumigation of this product, used in tablets, is compulsory in many client countries in France, starting with North Africa, in order to be able to unload the goods.
It helps prevent the spread of insects from one country to another. Without this, no processing certificate upon arrival at the port. And the grains risk going back to the sender… As a result, 11.5 million tonnes of cereals are concerned, according to L’Opinion who investigated behind the scenes of the case. Cereal farmers are upwind. “ These countries will be in dire need of food», reacted Sunday on Sud Radio Éric Thirouin, president of French wheat and cereal producers, who fears the risk of riots. «In the best case, if I may say so, it is Russia which is the world’s leading exporter which will supply them. ».
The decision dates back to the end of October 2022. It was taken by the French National Food Safety Agency (Anses) which renewed the marketing authorization for the product except at “direct contact with grain“. If inhaled in large doses, this aluminum phosphide gas can cause neurological or respiratory disorders.
French specificity
Nevertheless, this decision by ANSES is specific to France, since the authorization to use phosphine has been renewed in recent months in most neighboring European countries. ” This is an absurd situation even though the use of this insecticide is included in the specifications of the countries to which France sells its cereals, deplores Guillaume Kasbarian, Renaissance MP, Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, who contacted ANSES on this subject. This also raises questions about ANSES’s ability to take a decision of this importance without consultation with the government and without taking into account the European context. ».
It would seem, in fact, that the government and ANSES differ on this subject, the Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs pleading for the application of the European regulation, which authorizes the use of phosphine. “The risk is immediate for our foreign trade and our cereal sector, one of the major agricultural surplus sectors for export (14.5 billion euros in 2022), comments a government source. It is also a threat to the food security of these countries in the current international context.».
In L’Opinion, ANSES rejects the responsibility on the main manufacturer of phosphine, the Dutch company UPL Holdings, which would not have sent it the complete file because it would have itself given up the approval of the product… What the manufacturer denies. At ANSES, no one was available on Monday April 10 to answer the Figaro.
Strategic sector
« It would be a halt to the export of a strategic sector for France, insists the deputy who recalls that the import into France of cereals that have been treated by phosphine fumigation is authorized. We cannot leave cereal farmers without a solution.To circumvent this ban, some industrialists could be tempted to move towards European ports such as Genoa or Antwerp to ship their cereals. This would represent an additional cost and a higher carbon impact, deplores someone close to the file. A new hearing could be organized at the Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee in the coming weeks. Cereal farmers call on the government to ” seize the subject ».
SEE ALSO – Russia: Sergei Lavrov threatens to end the Ukrainian grain agreement
”
data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js”
>