The French Health Security Agency wants to ban the main uses of this agricultural herbicide. But the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, wants France not to get ahead of the European Union, which could ban it in 2024, in order to preserve the agricultural sector.
He persists and he signs. In a column relayed on his Twitter account, Saturday April 1, the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, reiterated his desire to rehabilitate the herbicide S-metolachlor, under the ban procedure. In the name of the “food sovereignty”, he defends this product whose name is little known to the general public but which, with 1,946 tonnes sold each year, “is one of the most widely used herbicidal active substances in France”as reported by the Agency national food, environmental and occupational health safety (Anses).
The latter had announced, in mid-February, wanting to ban the main uses of the herbicide, causing concern among cereal farmers. The government then asked ANSES to reconsider its decision, prompting criticism from environmental NGOs.
Used to weed, mainly in corn, sunflower and soybean crops, S-metolachlor degrades after use to form chemical derivatives, called “metabolites”, recalls ANSES. These metabolites are found in soils, surface waters and groundwater. Recently, “During checks on water intended for human consumption, three metabolites of S-metolachlor were frequently detected at concentrations exceeding quality standards” fixed by European legislation, alerted the health agency on February 15. And this, while the presence of the herbicide in a worrying quantity had already been detected in 2021, according to a report from ANSES (PDF).
A withdrawal procedure initiated in February
In the process, the agency had decided “restrictive measures in the marketing authorizations for S-metolachlor-based products, in particular a reduction in the maximum doses of use for corn, sunflower, soybeans and sorghum”. But despite these measures, “the concentrations of the three metabolites of S-Metolachlor are in a situation of exceeding the regulatory thresholds”according to ANSES.
As a result, the agency announced in mid-February that it “engaged[ait] the procedure for withdrawing the main uses of plant protection products based on S-metolachlor”mainly marketed by Syngenta, the German heavyweight in the sector. “The final decision is in progress”said a spokeswoman for ANSES at the time. at AFP. The ban on the main uses of these weedkillers, if confirmed by ANSES, would open a “grace period” allowing the sale of the products for another six months and their use for 12 months.
The federations and associations representing producers of wheat and cereals (AGPB), maize (AGPM), oilseeds and protein crops (FOP), potatoes (UNPT) and beet growers (CGB) immediately reacted to the announcement by ANSES, announcing their “concern about the successive withdrawals of molecules essential to agricultural production and the maintenance of competitive sectors”.
The “concern” of the agricultural sector
Conversely, the NGO Générations Futures had welcomed “this initiative and this anticipation of a probable European ban on the substance”Who “shows that national authorities have the power to take decisions on product authorizations without waiting for conclusions from Europe on active substances”. Indeed, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been responsible since 2015 for reassessing the authorization of S-metolachlor. But although she classified it as a “suspected carcinogen” (PDF) last June, it has yet to issue its final decision, after eight years of review.
The story does not end there. At the end of March, the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, announced before the congress of the majority agricultural union, the FNSEA, that he had asked ANSES to reconsider its desire to ban the main uses of S-metolachlor. “I will not be the minister who abandons strategic decisions for our food sovereignty at the sole discretion of an agency”launched Marc Fesneau, considering that “this decision n”[était] not aligned with the European calendar and that it falls[ait]” without “credible alternatives”.
“ANSES is not intended to decide on everything, all the time, outside the European field and without ever thinking about the consequences for our sectors.”
Marc Fesneau, Minister of Agriculturebefore the FNSEA congress, March 30
The NGO Générations Futures then denounced a “scandal in the protection of public health and the environment”. “This is an extremely serious statement which undermines the independence of ANSES”, was also alarmed with AFP the socialist deputy Dominique Potier. MEP (Renaissance) Pascal Canfin, quoted by The World (paid article)also emphasizes that science is “now very clear about this herbicide” and the priority is “to work on alternatives for farmers, not to wage battles of the past”.
“We will now respect the European framework”
Criticisms which therefore did not find an echo within the ministry. In his forum, Marc Fesneau also recalls that Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced a “plan to anticipate the withdrawal of potentially problematic active substances” must reconcile food sovereignty and ecological transition. He believes that this planning should not “not introduce a distortion of competition with our European neighbours”.
The Minister also explains that a ban decision from the European Commission may not take place before November 2024, i.e. “up to two years after the end of use at the French level”, judging such a discrepancy “difficult to understand”.