The government wants to waive the ban on phosphine for its exports. This pesticide is banned in France from April 25, but it is required by some importing countries to treat grain shipments.
French farmers will be able to continue to use phosphine to treat their cereals, and therefore to export their production outside the European Union. The French Health Security Agency (Anses) had withdrawn its marketing authorization for this powerful insecticide from April 25. But faced with the outcry triggered by the agricultural world, the Ministries of Agriculture, Economy and Foreign Affairs sought arbitration at the highest level of the State, in Matignon.
And it was at the National Assembly that Olivier Becht, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, presented the government’s arguments on Tuesday, April 11. “ANSES wanted to ban the use of phosphine on exports of cereals. There is no European rule that prevents the use of this product when the cereals are intended for export, when the importing country himself authorizes it.” Clearly, France will not go beyond the European regulation which authorizes phosphine.
Marc Fesneau, the Minister of Agriculture, also dotted the i’s. “France will continue to export cereals to third countries. It will do so even after April 25 for a simple reason, it is that it will do so within the framework of European law which allows derogation from the ban. And I remind you that it will do so at the request of importing countries.”
The search for a “clear legal framework”
The government is therefore looking for a “clear legal framework” to allow phosphine. It was a headache for cereal producers: how to export when certain countries require a pesticide on a product while in France, this pesticide is prohibited? Phosphine (aluminum phosphide, or PH3) is used to treat grain cargoes as they are transported by ship. In October 2022, ANSES had not extended the authorization for its use in direct contact with cereals and a tolerance period was set until April 25. The consequence is that millions of tons of cereals risked no longer being able to be exported.
This insecticide is used to fumigate grain shipments that are transported by ship. A phosphine tablet is placed there, which disintegrates in the air. It is the smoke released by the tablet that is an insecticide. The treatment is required by many importing countries outside the European Union, for a simple reason, explains Francis Fleurat-Lessard, researcher at Inrae and specialist in the safety of stored foodstuffs. “It is a total curative treatment, that is to say that even the insects which are inside the grains in the form of larvae are affected by this gas. It leaves no trace, there is no residue.” In the event of direct and prolonged exposure or inhalation, phosphine is toxic to humans. Once the fumigation is complete, grain consumption is “harmless to humans”. “Except that fumigation takes a while and therefore, for short destinations, it may be that, on arrival, the generator has not released all the gas.” On a long journey, to Africa for example, there is therefore no problem. But for a short journey within the European Union, cereal growers prefer to use other products.
“A disaster” for cereal farmers
Some importing countries require the use of this phosphine. This is the case of Algeria, Tunisia, and a large part of West African countries. A sizeable market for France, which exported 13 million tonnes of cereals last year. France is the world’s fourth largest exporter, Russia the first. If France no longer exported, the consequences would be considerable, recalled Eric Thirouin, the president of the Céréaliers de France, who points “a disaster”. “Opposite, these countries are extremely dependent. Cereals are the staple food of Africa. We saw when Russia’s war against Ukraine was triggered, it was the beginning of riots in these countries and general panic to be able to feed their population.”