FRANCE: Parliamentary report on the strategy relative to glyphosate phase out

Published by Émilie Vianay at 15 November 2019

The joint information mission on monitoring the glyphosate phase out strategy provided an information report to the government on 12th November.

The purpose of this mission is to monitor the transition of the French Agriculture towards the ban of the main uses of glyphosate from 1st January 2021 and all its uses on 1st January 2023, in accordance with the commitments of the French Government.

The first part of the report concerns the difficulty of establishing a “T Zero” panorama of the use of glyphosate in France.

The second part of the report deals with the agronomic obstacles that persist. Indeed the authors highlight that two years after the INRA report dated November 2017 “Uses and alternatives to glyphosate in French agriculture” which focused on several technical dead ends, these are still existing and impose crucial choices. They result in serious agronomic dilemmas, especially when the only effective alternative to glyphosate currently available would be to question the “no-till” approach of conservation agriculture developed to fight against soil erosion and depletion. These technical dead ends also give rise to economic, territorial or health difficulties: the ban of glyphosate could lead to the outright cessation of cultivation of certain crops but also to the end of the agricultural exploitation of important parts of our territory, or even the essential fight against plants harmful to human health.

The parliamentary report indicates that this transition will have a high cost, regardless of the sector and whatever alternatives are available. A cost that will weigh heavily on operators whose economic balance is often precarious. So it seems essential to think about a real financial support for farmers.

Facing these concerns, sometimes these hesitations, the mission expects the Government to clarify its message to farmers, namely: what uses will benefit from a derogation on 1st January 2021 and what regulatory or legislative measures will be taken?

To download:

Information report No.2406 of the joint information mission on the monitoring of the strategy relative to glyphosate phase out (in French)

See also our previous articles:

FRANCE: Glyphosate phase-out plan issued

FRANCE: Towards glyphosate phase out

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