EU Ruling Halts French Sugar Beet Pesticide Exemption

Following severe crop disease losses in 2020, France granted sugar beet growers a three-year exemption from a general ban on the use of neonicotinoid chemicals. That exemption would have expired after this year's crop.

However, the European Union's Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that member states cannot offer exemptions to the bloc's ban on crop seeds treated with neonicotinoids, which are considered a threat to bees. French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau tweeted that he was aware of the decision.

According to Christian Spiegeleer, head of the French sugar makers group SNFS, the minister has called a meeting with sugar beet growers and sugar manufacturers such as Tereos on Monday to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, the CGB, a group of sugar beet growers, condemned the "brutality of the decision" just weeks before spring planting. The EU court's decision came after a similar exemption for neonicotinoid use on sugar beets was challenged in Belgium. PAN Europe, an anti-pesticide organization that had challenged Belgium's exemption, applauded the court's decision.

"This verdict serves as a reminder that administrations and politicians must follow the law, not the interests of the pesticide industry or industrial agricultural lobbies," said Martin Dermine, executive director of the group.