Paris (AFP)
The government has decided: the minimum distances for spreading pesticides will be set at 5 and 10 meters from homes, depending on the type of crop, an explosive record against a background of agricultural discontent and ecological concern.
The long-awaited decree, which will apply from January 1, 2020, will therefore confirm according to government sources the distances put in public consultation in the fall, and recommended by the French Health Security Agency (ANSES): five meters for so-called low crops such as vegetables and cereals and ten meters for tall crops, fruit or vines.
Distance increased to 20 meters for the "most dangerous" products, which however only represent around 0.3% of the active substances used. The famous glyphosate, around which the controversy over phytosanitary products was crystallized with "anti-pesticide orders" taken by dozens of mayors and systematically contested by the State, is not one of them.
The 5 and 10 meters can be reduced, up to 5 meters for arboriculture and 3 for "viticulture and other cultures", except near establishments welcoming "vulnerable people (schools, hospitals, retirement homes ..) .).
These exemptions will require the use of spraying equipment fitted with special "anti-drift" devices and the adoption of "departmental commitment charters". These charters, proposed by the users of phytosanitary products (agricultural organizations or infrastructure managers like the SNCF, large user of glyphosate to weed the tracks), must be submitted to public consultation and validated by the prefects.
An envelope of 25 million will also be provided to "support farmers in reducing the use of phytosanitary products", and the plots already sown will not be affected until July 1, 2020.
Finally, as ANSES will integrate safety distances as planned in its future marketing authorizations, these will be the ones that will apply.
This long-awaited government decision was the subject of a showdown between major agricultural unions and environmentalists. The former denounced a form of "agri-bashing", the latter accusing the government of preparing to yield to "agricultural lobbies and the phytosanitary industry".
- "Not consensual" -
The government, for its part, claims to have sought "a good balance and to get out of the logic of confrontation", by "sticking to the state of science in current knowledge and the opinion of ANSES". It highlights the "advances" represented by the simple fact of having limitations, present in "very few countries in Europe" (Slovenia, Italy or some German Lander).
He launched in October a public consultation on the internet, which lasted a month and collected more than 53,000 opinions. Opinion which, according to government sources, has only confirmed that the "subject is not consensual". The publication of their summary - requested by environmental organizations - should be done at the same time as the text on distances.
But already the critics are firing. The NGO Générations Futures, very involved in this file, announced "to study all the possibilities of appeal", and denounced "measures which will not in any way appease the local situations". The Nicolas Hulot Foundation has criticized decisions that "do not meet the challenges of public health and environmental protection" and asked the government to review its positions.
The association Agir pour l'environnement criticizes on its side "the deafness of the government on the health and environmental emergency", while the Peasant Confederation denounces decisions to "clear the government of its responsibility to protect the population" and claims " a real public policy to exit pesticides ".
For Eric Thirouin, FNSEA deputy secretary general, "this is not a victory". And to point out a "total misunderstanding of the measurement of incompressible distances of 20 meters, which is double what was planned". Union members "will meet at the start of the school year to define a strategy," he added.
The union of phytosanitary industries UIPP for its part did not wish to react.
© 2019 AFP