France to Fully Ban Neonicotinoid Pesticides, No Spraying Within 200 Meters of Schools

By Guo Hua-ren (Professor Emeritus, Department of Agronomy, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, China)

To promote ecological agriculture, France has thrown its full weight behind the effort, including a planned pesticide-reduction campaign, with the goal of cutting pesticide use in half by 2025. Of course, certified organic farming, which uses no pesticides at all, delivers the best reduction. The share of France's farmland that is certified organic rose from 3.78% in 2012 to 3.9% in 2013, 4.1% in 2014 and 5% in 2015. Although this still lags considerably behind Austria's 21.3% and Switzerland's 13.1%, the fact that France, a major pesticide-using country, is willing to spend 160 million euros a year to support certified organic farming (the Ambition bio program) shows just how ambitious it is.

No Pesticide Spraying in Public Places or Within 200 Meters of Schools from 2020

Beyond the agriculture ministry, the Minister of Ecology, Ségolène Royal, proposed the "Terre saine" policy in 2014, meaning "healthy pesticide-free land in both urban and rural areas." Through various programs it encourages non-agricultural land to stop using pesticides, and starting in 2020, pesticide spraying will be banned in public places and within 200 meters of schools.

In addition, the National Assembly worked hard as well, passing three measures from the Ministry of Ecology in June 2014: a complete ban on aerial spraying, accelerated market approval for natural substances used in plant protection, and a ban two years later on local governments applying pesticides at schools and parks.

Agriculture Sector Pushes Back; Bill Authorizes Environment Ministry to Ban Neonicotinoids and Similar Pesticides

Although the government was intent on reducing pesticides, the agriculture sector had long been accustomed to using them, so resistance was strong. After the measure banning pesticide spraying near school public land passed, the National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions immediately launched a protest in the city of Besançon near Switzerland, and that November it gathered in Paris to throw potatoes on the streets and dump manure in front of some local government offices.

In response, Environment Minister Royal did not back down. Instead, she opened a debate in the French National Assembly and finally, in March 2016, by a narrow margin, won a vote to pass the "Biodiversity Bill," directly banning neonicotinoid pesticides. However, the effective date was postponed by one year, to begin on September 1, 2018. The bill also authorizes the environment minister to ban the use of similar pesticides. This can be seen as a major shift in pesticide use: 'bans are the norm, use is the exception.'

The environment minister said the biodiversity bill would give France the ability to respond to future needs and protect bee populations, though research into alternatives needs to be accelerated. She also endorsed eliminating the use of the herbicide glyphosate. Agriculture Minister Le Fol said in response that planning was already underway on how to halve France's pesticide use, but because an overly wet summer two years earlier had led to more disease, he welcomed the 18-month postponement of the implementation date. He also worried, however, that if only France imposed a ban and other EU countries did not follow suit, it could hurt farmers.

[References]

Reports / Papers

M. Barzman (2009) Ecophyto 2018 –Selected items from the French pesticide reduction plan. ENDURE. http://www.endure-network.eu/content/download/4993/40493/file/
French%2520NAP%2520-%2520Ecophyto%25202018.pdf

Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood and Forestry (2014) Ten Keys To Understanding Agroecology. http://agriculture.gouv.fr/telecharger/58145?token=5c5d2aed24cfa6eb606b3628027b7f80

M. Watts and S. Williamson (2015) Replacing Chemicals with Biology: Phasing out highly hazardous pesticides
with agroecology. Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific, Penang, Malaysia.
http://library.ipamglobal.org/jspui/bitstream/ipamlibrary/463/1/
Phasing-Out-HHPs-with-Agroecology.pdf

P. Crosskey (2016) Conversion to agroecology: France’s hopes for environmental salvation. ARC2020. http://www.arc2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/151228-pesticides-download-rev3-less-compressed.pdf

Reports

(2015) The “Ecophyto 2018” Plan. http://frenchfoodintheus.org/916

(2015) France unveils new National Action Plan.
http://www.endurenetwork.eu/it/about_endure/all_the_news/
france_unveils_new_national_action_plan

(2015) Ecophyto 2 – France tries to halve pesticide use, again.

Ecophyto 2 – France tries to halve pesticide use. Again.

(2016) Pesticide ‘Probation’ sees tensions rise. http://www.arc2020.eu/france-pesticide-probation/

(2017) Ecophyto plan show results with lowered pesticide use. http://frenchfoodintheus.org/3472

(2017) French PM says ban on ‘bee-killer’ pesticide will go ahead. https://phys.org/news/2017-06-french-pm-bee-killer-pesticide.html

(2017) Paris defies EU Commission, vows to block glyphosate reauthorisation.
http://sustainablepulse.com/2017/08/30/paris-defies-eu-commission-vows-to-block-glyphosate-reauthorisation/

(2017) The fate of glyphosate in the EU hangs in the balance.
https://www.facebook.com/warren.kuo.5/posts/10154599135431008