France suspends the importation and marketing of fresh fruits and vegetables treated with the insecticide thiacloprid

The European Union having not yet taken measures to limit the entry of such products into European territory, where this active substance from the neonicotinoid family is prohibited, the government issued a decree on Friday, in accordance with a commitment from the Prime Minister.

It appeared in the list of 62 government commitments in favor of the agricultural world. France has decided to prevent the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables treated with the insecticide thiacloprid, banned in the EU, announced the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday February 23. “The European Union has not yet” taken measures to limit the entry of such products into European territory, “the government has decided, pending and in order to protect the consumer, to suspend by ministerial decree of February 23 the introduction, import and placing on the national market of fresh fruits and vegetables from third countries treated with thiacloprid”writes the ministry in a press release.

The active substance of the neonicotinoid family, “banned for use in France since September 2018 and in the European Union since February 2021, (…) continues to be used in other parts of the world to protect crops against certain insects”underlines the ministry.

“By purchasing and consuming fresh fruits and vegetables from these countries which have been treated with thiacloprid, the consumer is exposed to this substance, considered by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as a category 2 carcinogen, toxic for reproduction category 1B, and endocrine disruptor”, continues the ministry.

A commitment from Gabriel Attal

Among the sixty measures intended to defuse the anger of farmers, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, committed on February 1 to preventing this type of imports. And he announced on Wednesday that an order would be issued on Friday. “We will fight product by product for respect for a simple principle: if it is prohibited for our farmers, it must not enter our country. (…) It disadvantages our farmers. It does not protect the French any more since products treated with thiacloprid arrive on the shelves”declared the head of government.

The decree “enjoins operators to ensure that imported fresh fruits and vegetables do not contain thiacloprid residues: throughout the chain of import, processing and marketing of these products, French operators are thus required to implement means of controlling the risk of introducing products containing quantifiable residues of thiacloprid”according to the ministry.

The text, “taken for a period of one year, will cease to apply” as soon as the European Commission accedes to the French request to lower the “maximum residue limits” (MRL) for thiacloprid that can be detected in foods entering European territory.