Brussels, 20/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll confirmed at a meeting with representatives of cherry producers on Tuesday 19 April that dimethoate will remain a banned substance in France in the treatment of cherries against the Drosophila suzukii fly (see EUROPE 11533 and 11530).
Le Foll also said that the national safeguard clause banning the import of cherries from countries which permit the treatment of cherries with dimethoate would come into force as early as this week. “So far, Spain, Italy, Poland, Greece and Slovenia have also announced their intention not to authorise the use of dimethoate on cherries”, says a press release from the French Agriculture Ministry.
Le Foll told producers, too, that cyantraniliprole and spinetoram could be used from this year to replace dimethoate. Conscious of the risk of economic losses as a result of Drosophila Suzukii infestation in 2016, the minister pledged to put compensation in place for producers.
After France referred the European Commission to court on 29 March over risks associated with consuming foodstuffs treated with dimethoate, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that there were not enough data to definitely rule out risk to consumer health. Following an exchange in the European plant health committee, France announced on 15 April that it would not grant any exemptions allowing the use of dimethoate to protect cherries. Italy and Spain made similar announcements. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)