Since January 1, 2017, the use of pesticides to maintain public green spaces is prohibited. What about individuals? Update on the ban on pesticides in France by 2019.
In September 2008, the Ministry of Agriculture implemented the Ecophyto 2018 plan following the Grenelle de l’environnement.
During the discussions, reducing the use of pesticides and making farms less dependent on them had been widely mentioned. The goal was to halve the use of these products. Almost 10 years later, which pesticides are (soon to be) banned?
Since January 1, 2017, communities have been banned from spraying chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides and herbicides in public green spaces. More natural solutions have been adopted such as the use of ladybugs to eliminate aphids.
In 2018, it will be the turn of bee-killing neonicotinoids to be banned. After significant lobbying from intensive agriculture and agrochemicals, the ban which was to come into force on January 1, 2017 has been pushed back to September 1, 2018. Each year, 30% of bee colonies die and those since 1995. Nevertheless, neonicotinoids will be replaced by other equally toxic pesticides.
As for individuals, pesticides will no longer be available in stores by 2019. It will therefore be necessary to find alternatives for the garden and the vegetable patch. However, the Ministry of the Environment clarified when implementing this ban that biocontrol products, qualified as low risk or whose use is authorized in the context of organic farming, will continue to be authorized. . A way to get into organic farming quickly using, for example, fungi, bacteria and pheromones.
The well-known weedkiller, Roundup, will be one of the future bans on gardeners and can no longer be marketed over the counter since the beginning of 2017. It consists of glyphosate, classified as a probable human carcinogen in 2015 by the IARC (center Cancer Research International). In July 2016, Ségolène Royal, the Minister of the Environment at the time, succeeded in withdrawing nearly 132 products combining glyphosate with tallowamine, an adjuvant considered dangerous by the National Health Security Agency of food, environment and work (ANSES). Despite this, several hundred other products containing this substance are still on sale today.
Also, did you know that there are two Roundups? 60 million Consumers reminds us in a recent article: “There is the original, Monsanto’s star weedkiller based on glyphosate (a substance classified as a probable carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer). But there is also a new formula based on acetic acid (the same acid found in vinegar). “Stay attentive!
