Put an end to “unfair competition”. To try to appease the anger of farmers, Gabriel Attal unveiled this Thursday a series of measures aimed at regulating agricultural imports from third countries. The Prime Minister notably expressed his desire to ban the importation into France of fruits and vegetables treated with the pesticide thiacloprid, banned in Europe. Le Figaro takes stock of this highly controversial substance.
Thiacloprid is an insecticide belonging to the neonicotinoid (NNI) family. In agriculture, there are five substances listed as neonicotinoids: clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, acetamiprid and thiacloprid. These insecticides have been used since the early 1990s to protect certain crops from pests. Whether used as granules, seed treatments or sprays, the principle is the same: the substance is absorbed by the plant and spreads to all its tissues, including pollen.
Thiacloprid is used in particular to eliminate aphids and Colorado beetles, two insects which attack rapeseed, corn, beet and potato crops. This pesticide is sold by the giant Bayer – also the originator of the herbicide RoundUp – under the names “Calypso” and “Biscaya”.
Since the beginning of the 2010s, numerous studies have established the deleterious impact of neonictonides on bees. These insecticide substances attack the nervous system of insects and disorient them, thus contributing to the massive decline of pollinator colonies, which was recognized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2013.
In 2020, a new opinion issued by the EFSA estimated that thiacloprid developed by Bayer would have “an impact on groundwater, but also on human health, due to its toxicity for reproduction”. In detail, European authorities fear contamination of groundwater and a risk to reproduction, as thiacloprid is likely to harm fertility and the fetus.
A 2013 Senate report highlights that thiacloprid is also identified by the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) as a potential endocrine disruptor and classified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( US EPA) as a probable carcinogen.
Due to the environmental and health risks surrounding the use of neonicotinoids, French and European legislators have gradually banned these substances.
At Union level, the use of three neonicotinoids considered harmful to bees (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) was restricted in 2013. In 2018, these three substances were definitively banned for bees. use in the open field, all crops combined. European farmers then turned to thiacloprid, sales of which more than doubled between 2013 and 2015. In January 2020, Brussels finally decided to extend the ban to thiacloprid. The substance has since been banned for all agricultural use in EU member countries.
The case of France is special. From 2016, the law “For the reconquest of biodiversity, nature and landscapes” provides for the ban on all neonicotinoid-based products. All five substances belonging to the NNI family are concerned. The ban came into force in 2018, but exemptions made it possible to continue the treatment of certain beet seeds until 2023. Note that unlike French farmers, European farmers can still use acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid used to treat certain market garden crops.
Fruits and vegetables grown in Europe are not normally treated with thiacloprid, although traces may remain in crops long after treatments have ended. However, the insecticide is not banned in other countries around the world, meaning that agricultural products imported into the EU are potentially contaminated with thiacloprid.
Brussels is aware of this. In November 2023, the European Commission even submitted a proposal to MEPs for a vote on maximum residue limits (MRLs) for thiacloprid authorized in products. In Brussels jargon, the maximum residue limit is the highest level of pesticide residues tolerated in imported foodstuffs. When a pesticide is banned in the EU, the MRL for that substance in imported products is set at 0.01 mg/kg, known as ’technical zero’.
It remains that the Commission, after consulting the European health watchdog, can propose raising the MRL for imported products. A way of “taking into account the conditions of production in third countries”. The Commission therefore wished to increase the maximum authorized quantity of thiacloprid in around thirty products (strawberries, tea, vegetables, potatoes, etc.). The European Parliament, however, strongly rejected the proposal. In response, MEPs adopted a resolution aimed at keeping the MRL for the molecule in imported foods at “technical zero”. In the same spirit, the measure defended this Thursday by Gabriel Attal should constitute an additional guarantee against the risk of consuming foodstuffs treated with thiacloprid.