FRANCE: Partial cancellation of the Order on the use of PPPs and adjuvants

On 26 June 2019, the French Council of State (‘Conseil d’État’) cancelled several provisions of the inter-ministerial Order of 4 May 2017 concerning the placing on the market and the use of plant protection products and their adjuvants “on the grounds that these provisions did not sufficiently protect public health and the environment”.

At the end of 2017, two environmental protection associations had appealed against this order on the grounds of ultra vires. The Council of State partially agree with them by pronouncing the cancellation of four provisions considered as insufficient.

– The Council of State notes that the Order does not set any general provision for the protection of residents of treated agricultural areas. Indeed the current risk mitigations measures only concern places with vulnerable people (playgrounds and spaces usually frequented by young children, establishments for health, elderly centers and public leisure spaces);

– the Council of State highlights that the current measures for preventing water contamination only concern application by spraying or by dusting. There is no measure for other types of application that can also lead to surface water contamination, especially by run-off (granules application, soil injection, etc). Therefore the Council of State deletes the text ‘by spraying or by dusting;

– the Council of State considers the Order as illegal on the grounds that the re-entry periods are set only when products are applied on vegetated areas. No measure exists for applications on bare soil. Therefore the Council of State deletes the text ‘vegetated areas’;

– lastly, the Council of State cancels the article 2 of the Order since it does not set concrete measures in order to prevent contamination by run-off in case of heavy rainfalls.

The State Minister and the Ministers for the ecological and inclusive transition, for agriculture and food, for economy and finance and for solidarity and health have to take the regulatory measures resulting from this decision within six months.

For further details:

Council of State decision of  26 June 2019, Pesticides regulation (in French)

See also our previous articles: 

FRANCE: The new Order on the Use of PPPs and adjuvants is finally published! 

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