Gathered at Château Ségur, in Parempuyre, near Bordeaux, 28 agricultural unions and associations of elected officials from Gironde signed the charter on Tuesday “living well together”. The non-binding text wishes “respond to public health issues related to the use of phytosanitary products in agriculture near residential areas and professional activities”.
“An ambitious and pragmatic charter” (Gironde Chamber of Agriculture)
What is the minimum spreading distance between plot and house?
A regular subject of controversy, the question of the minimum spreading distance between plots and dwellings was however not immediately addressed during the press conference organized on the occasion of the signing of the charter.
– J.B.
Asked about this issue, Jean-Samuel Eynard, president of the FDSEA de la Gironde, recalls the regulatory framework to which the charter is limited: “The products considered to be the most harmful will be at a minimum of 20 meters (…), the intermediate products have a safety zone of 10 meters which can be reduced to 3 or 5 m depending on the size of the crops and the equipment used. ‘spreading used.’
“Bullshit and greenwashing” for Pesticide Alert Haute-Gironde
“The masquerade continues“, reacts Sylvie Nony, of Pesticide Alert Haute-Gironde. “We are very reserved because this charter was already to be done with the associations and that was not the case. Only the Sépanso was invited to be present and its board of directors did not sign it. None of the representatives of residents signed the text”.
“The spreading distance is too short (…) we make people believe that we are protecting them” (Alerte Pesticides Haute-Gironde)
“We now know that these products can travel very far, studies have shown that products used on cereal crops from the Charentes arrive in Bordeaux and when there is spraying in the Médoc, the people of Bordeaux benefit from it for two to three days. after”affirms Henri Plandé, president of Alerte Pesticides Haute-Gironde.
“If we treat, it’s not for the pleasure of polluting but to save our crops” (Denis Baro, president of Coop France Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
“The residents are worried as soon as a tractor comes out!”
“Farmers who adhere to the principles of the charter (…) undertake to favor dialogue, (…) to warn local residents (neighbors or temporary workers) by SMS, email, mobile application BVE33, at least 8 hours before the treatments, to adapt the spreading” climatic conditions, indicates the charter in a document of about ten pages.
“These are still promises, commitments to develop information systems“, believes Sylvie Nony. The vice-president of Pesticide Alert in Haute-Gironde regrets that the text is not binding.
A bad trial, answers Jean-Marie Garde, the president of the Federation of great wines of Bordeaux. “Local residents, neo-rurals, are worried as soon as a tractor comes out in front of their house, so it’s sure if they see spreading, they are worried so we have to explain to them the materials we use” .
A first version of the charter challenged by justice
This charter of “living well together” is actually the second version of a text that has already been attacked by environmental associations in 2020. The Constitutional Council then challenged this first “residents’ charter considering that the public consultation had been too restricted.
“We haven’t changed much” (Gironde Chamber of Agriculture)
– J.B.
Despite criticism from environmental associations, Jean-Louis Dubourg, cereal farmer at Cestas and President of the Chamber, welcomes this new version as “one of the most successful charters in France”.
The text “has a strong ambition and I applaud with both hands“, adds Bernard Lauret, the mayor of Saint-Emilion and president of the association of mayors of Gironde. The charter must now be ratified by the prefect of Gironde before being put out for public consultation.