FRANCE: Release of the New “Bee” Order
20 November 2021
FRANCE: List of substances concerned by the Tax on Diffuse Pollution for 2022
29 December 2021
In 2019, the Government adopted a regulatory framework which sets minimum safety distances between plant protection products (PPP) spreading zones and residential areas as well as the adoption at local level of charters aiming at creating a dialogue between local residents and farmers.
Following the decisions of the Constitutional Council of 19 March 2021 and of the Council of State of 26 July 2021, the Government was asked to adapt and complete this framework within 6 months.
In this context, the Government has launched a public consultation from 21 December 2021 to 11 January 2022 on a draft decree and a draft order adapting the minimum safety distances to be respected between the spreading zones and the residential areas.
The draft decree, intended to enter into force at the end of January 2022, sets a new procedure for drawing up and approving user commitment charters, so that public consultation on draft charters is carried out in accordance with the provisions of article L. 123-19-1 of the Environmental Code. In addition, it states that the charters must necessarily specify the procedures for informing residents and persons present prior to the use of PPPs.
The draft order extends to people working near treated areas the provisions in place for the protection of residents nearby these areas.
Finally, the Government asked ANSES to speed up the update of the approvals of PPPs classified CMR2 (suspected of being carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic) placed on the market before 2016, to which the safety distances set by the Order of May 4, 2017 amended apply, to scientifically assess and integrate these distances into the approvals. ANSES will therefore have to explicitly set a safety distance for the products concerned providing that the holders request it. To take into account the incompressible evaluation deadlines, a transitional phase is planned during which a maximum of CMR2 products will be assessed. As of 1 October 2022, PPPs that have not been the subject of an admissible application to ANSES will have a 10-meter safety distance applied by regulation. PPPs placed on the market since 2016 have been subject to an assessment which defines the distance that must be applied to ensure safe use.
A work schedule will be established at the beginning of 2022 in order to identify deadlock situations that may persist and generate losses in agricultural production and to determine the terms of compensation.
To download (in French):
Draft order relating to measures to protect people when using plant protection products and amending Order of 4 mai 2017
See also our previous articles:
FRANCE – Implementation of the New System for Protecting Residents from PPP Spray Drift
FRANCE – Enforcement of the new system for protecting residents when using plant protection products
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