The main uses of the weedkiller S-metolachlor banned in France

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: MATTHIEU ALEXANDRE / AFP 17:40 p.m., April 20, 2023, modified at 18:20 p.m., April 20, 2023

The main uses of S-metolachlor, a powerful agricultural herbicide whose chemical derivatives have been detected beyond the authorized limits in groundwater, are now banned in France, according to decisions published Thursday by the French Agency for Health Security (ANSES) and revealed by the Journal du dimanche.

After the withdrawal of a dozen marketing authorisations (MA), the sale and distribution of plant protection products based on S-metolachlor will remain authorised until 20 October 2023 and stocks of these products, widely used on maize, sunflower and soybeans, may be used until 20 October 2024. The fate of this herbicide had aroused emotion in the agricultural world, the majority union FNSEA demanding its maintenance "for lack of alternatives".

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A request for "reassessment" made at the end of March by Fesneau

At the end of March, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau had asked ANSES "a reassessment of its decision", which would deprive French farmers of this weedkiller before the ban is generalized throughout the European Union. ANSES announced on 15 February that it wanted to ban the main uses of S-metolachlor, "one of the most widely used herbicide active substances in France": after use in the field, this substance degrades into chemical derivatives, "metabolites", which are found in soil, surface water and groundwater - and therefore potentially in drinking water.

In recent "monitoring of water intended for human consumption, three metabolites of S-metolachlor were frequently detected at concentrations exceeding the quality standards" set by European legislation, the agency said in February.

Withdrawal of the main uses of plant protection products

ANSES had explained that it was therefore initiating a "procedure for withdrawing the main uses of plant protection products based on S-metolachlor", essentially marketed by Syngenta, the German heavyweight in the sector. "I will not be the minister who abandons strategic decisions for our food sovereignty at the sole discretion of an agency," Marc Fesneau reacted to farmers and representatives of the FNSEA gathered in congress in Angers (Maine-et-Loire).

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"You have to rely on science to evaluate before deciding (...) but ANSES is not intended to decide everything, all the time, outside the European field and without ever thinking about the consequences for our sectors," he added. The charge has provoked reactions from many environmental NGOs, but also elected officials, who see it as an attack on the independence of ANSES and recall that S-metolachlor is classified as a "suspected carcinogen" by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) since last June.