Beet growers urge France to authorise pesticide already used in other European countries

5 months ago 23

The national beet industry is urging the Paris government to give the green light on the use of acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide allowed in the EU but banned in France, to put an end to the distortion in competition among Member States.

French growers fear a return this year of beet yellows – a disease caused by an aphid – which has already decimated part of European production in 2020.

The sector is calling for acetamiprid, an insecticide in the neonicotinoid family, to be authorised by the national government.

“The health situation in beet fields shows that aphids and yellows pressure is already very high, so the timing is perfect for parliamentarians and European candidates to understand the issues and consequences of this Franco-French ban,” Vincent Guillot, director of the Confédération Générale des Planteurs de Betteraves (CGB), the sugar beet industry’s trade union, told Euractiv.

France is the Europe’s leading sugar producer, ahead of Germany. Following a ruling by the EU Court of Justice in 2023, France has decided to ban all crop protection products based on neonicotinoids – including acetamiprid – because of their negative impact on the environment, particularly on pollinating insects.

To reassure growers at the start of the season, on Friday 5 April the French government granted the possibility of use for another insecticide, Movento.

But for growers, this product is less effective and more expensive than acetamiprid.

Uses in other EU countries

Above all, for the beet growers’ union, authorising the insecticide would put an end to a distortion of competition between member states.

While the European Union has banned most neonicotinoids following several studies showing a potential risk to pollinating insects, acetamiprid remains authorised until 2033. As such, it is used in many member states.

Things are moving ahead

In mid-April, the French agriculture delegated minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher suggested that the government was preparing for 2025, “by looking at what will come out of the analysis,” of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Contacted by Euractiv, EFSA confirmed that a re-evaluation of acetamiprid will be published shortly. This study is eagerly awaited by the French government, which could use it as a basis for changing the current rules.

In 2022 EFSA stated that “no conclusions have been drawn” on the risk of acetamiprid for human health, but pointed to a lack of data on the molecule’s role as an endocrine disruptor.

According to Guillot, the study should not recommend a continuation of the ban, especially for beetroot, which is harvested before flowering and therefore, in his view, does not affect pollinating insects.

The industry is calling on members of parliament to support a law currently being debated in the National Assembly aimed at banning neonicotinoids, “unless their use is authorised by European Union regulations”.