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FRENCH INDUSTRY VIEWS ON PESTICIDE LEGISLATION

(Crop Protection Monthly - August 2009)

The Union des Industries de la Protection des Plantes (UIPP) (www.uipp.org) is the association that represents 19 companies who market crop protection products in France. In July UIPP released its annual report outlining its responses to some of the important challenges for the industry. Martin Redbond took the opportunity to question the director general of UIPP, Jean Charles Bocquet, about some of the key issues. 

 Is the French pesticide registration scheme now operating more effectively than previously? 

A new system was introduced in September 2006. As a result the responsibility for benefit/risk evaluation was passed to AFSSA (French Food Safety Agency). Decisions regarding registration lie with the Minister of Agriculture. There has been significant progress since the new system was introduced with new timelines and procedures. More than 4,500 recommendations (AVIS) have been submitted to the Minister of Agriculture for a decision. All the submissions made before September 2006 are under evaluation and AFSSA is confident that these will be completed by the end of 2009. The French system is gradually catching up and this will enable French farmers to access new innovations at the same time as neighbours elsewhere in the EU.

What impact will the new European regulations have on agriculture/horticulture production in France? 

The new regulation, the revised directive 91/414, will result in more work sharing and harmonisation between members states. It will allow them to make mutual recognition operational, which will be helpful for both minor uses and minor crops. The regulation will also introduce clearer product identity rules for parallel trade which will ensure greater operator and environmental safety for the general public and farmers.  

Industry is still concerned about the “cut off” criteria concept which could mean that key products which bring benefits to farmers and consumers will be banned. This could include some important fungicides used on cereals, potatoes and vegetables as well as insecticides used in resistance management strategies. UIPP will carefully follow the work of the European Commission which will define endocrine disruption criteria. We want to be sure that the new regulation is driven by risk evaluation/management rather than by hazard. 

The sustainable use directive will help all member states to put in place harmonised risk management and good practice programmes. We will be carefully monitoring IPM (integrated pest management) programmes in order to ensure that they are based on local cropping systems and take into account local agronomic conditions.

What impact has the Grenelle de l'environment had?

One of the main advantages of the Grenelle de l’environment (www.legrenelle-environnement.fr) is the process itself. It gave all stakeholders a unique opportunity to sit together around the same table and seek real solutions. We regret the fact that the UIPP was not directly invited to participate in the first round of discussions during summer 2007 as pesticides and GMOs were on the agenda. However, we are now part of several implementation teams and can positively contribute to the operational plan.

The Grenelle, a multi-party debate that unites representatives of government and organisations (both professional associations and, non-governmental organisations), with the objective of establishing a joint position on a specific theme, encourages all French citizens to adopt a ‘green approach’ to transportation, energy, biodiversity, waste management, agriculture and governance. The legislative process is being
finalised and there are two parts, Grenelle 1 – the general principles and Grenelle 2 – the tool box. There  are a lot of good ideas but it will be necessary for the French government to allocate adequate resources. The measures should be balanced and must preserve the sustainability of all the industry sectors affected.

 The Ecophyto 2018 plan under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture is the major initiative relating to agriculture and pesticides. It provides a good opportunity for all stakeholders to collaborate. This is particularly beneficial for the environmental-based NGOs as they are not always well informed. 

The Ecophyto 2018 plan calls for a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides over the next 10 years. What are the key elements of the plan and what has been achieved so far?  

It is important to remember that use reduction is only one of the objectives of the plan. It is, of course, the most popular one as far as the media and general public are concerned. The plan itself is made up of eight parts relating to use reduction, crop cultivation systems that use less pesticides, training, bio-monitoring, non agricultural applications, communication and one part dealing with overseas territories. In term of governance, a national coordination committee is in place and the actions are going to be implemented at a regional level under the leadership of local prefects. During 2008 and the first half of 2009 there have been a lot of meetings to establish performance indicators, a training process and the process of how bio-monitoring can be best implemented. Ecophyto R&D under the leadership of INRA (the French National Institute for Agricultural Research) developed model cropping systems. During the next cropping season the introduction of these measures will be accelerated. 

UIPP and all its members are supporting all actions related to training, development of good practice, impact reduction and innovation as they support sustainable agriculture and maintain competitiveness on farm. However, we are very concerned about the 50% use reduction target. The government hopes that this will be achieved within 10 years assuming alternative solutions become available. It will involve banning some 53 active ingredients. These measures are arbitrary and jeopardise the competitiveness of agriculture. French farmers, distributors and industry have already significantly reduced the use of pesticides due to the introduction of new technology. Most of the substances to be banned are already listed in Annex I of directive 91/414. They have been thoroughly evaluated as far as benefit, health and environmental risk are concerned so why should we handicap farmers.

The plan is also targeting significant growth of organic farming by 2020.  We consider this to be extremely ambitious because the demand for conventional food is continuing to grow to meet the needs of a rising global population. Organic production also needs specific crop protection products which are not yet available. Research to develop such alternative techniques takes time and resources. Average cost of development is €200 million and the time scale is 10 years. UIPP and its members therefore prefer to utilise complementary methods including agronomy, seeds and decision making tools, rather than the development of alternatives. 

What initiatives have UIPP been involved in to encourage safe use of pesticides?

 UIPP has not been waiting around for the Grenelle de l'environment to encourage safe use of pesticides. The crop protection industry, CropLife International globally, the European Crop Protection Association, (ECPA), national associations and member companies have already developed a considerable number of initiatives. These involve formulations, packaging, application techniques, decision making tools, container management, training on IPM and safe use, applications, monitoring aquatic environments and improving the use of crop protection products.

We are as an industry very proud of some specific initiatives that we have been involved in. In 2001 UIPP created the company Adivalor. In collaboration with farmers, distributors and the French authorities it set up a voluntary scheme to collect obsolete stocks and empty.  In 2009 most of the obsolete stocks were collected and destroyed. Around 70% of empty containers have also been collected annually since 1999. In 2005 we created a pilot training project (Ecole des Bonnes Pratiques) training farmers on the safe use of pesticides. More than 7,000 farmers have undergone the training and are ready to be certified. This meets the requirements of the Grenelle and the objectives of the sustainable use directive. UIPP is also participating in some specific epidemiological studies so that we are collectively better placed to answer questions raised about the potential long term effect of pesticide exposure. We are also taking part in a number of European initiatives, in collaboration with our ECPA colleagues, such as the Safe Use Initiative programme and TOPPS (Train Operator to Prevent Point Source pollution).

 UIPP also makes a considerable amount of information available on our website www.info-pesticides.org where there are three areas dedicated to the general public, the professional and the media.

 Have there been any significant changes or trends in pesticide usage in recent years? 

Pesticide use in France is linked to agricultural practice, the economic environment and weather conditions. However, an important parameter for the last 10 years has been the farmers’ attitude to pesticide use. More and more are only using pesticides when necessary. They also use as little as they can to secure the yield and quality of the crops they are growing. 

In volume terms active ingredient usage went down from 120,000 tonnes in 1999 to 71,600 tonnes in 2006 (-40%) and during the same time period value went down from €2.16 billions to €1.72 (-20%). However, this has been reversed since 2007 because of the weather conditions, rains in spring 2007 and 2008 bringing increased levels of disease on grapes, potatoes and cereals. This has been helped by the increased price of commodities and a growing area cultivated with cereals. In 2008, 78,600 tonnes active ingredient were used valued at €2.09 billions (+ 10% and + 21% respectively) compared to 2006 .The evolution in the use of pesticides since 1999 illustrates the difficulty in fixing and reaching arbitrary quantitative reduction targets and highlights the need to continue work on reducing impact instead. 

What is the current position in France regarding GM crops? 

France is struggling more than ever with GM crops. Policy is politically driven and the French government refuses to take into consideration  the fact that more than 125 million hectares of GM crops have been grown worldwide (100,000 ha in Europe) and that scientific authorities in charge of evaluation have confirmed that proposed GM varieties are safe for humans and respect the environment. In the meantime we are importing, into Europe, 24 different GM varieties. France is currently losing its competitiveness and research and development programmes are being relocated to other parts of the world. We hope that the global demand for more food, the difficulties of eradicating new pests such as corn root worm which is now endemic in some parts of France and the recognised safety of GM crops will contribute to science based decisions and more authorisations for these crops.

 Website design advisor: Jane Slade (RACC) 

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