France has been ordered to overhaul its pesticide authorisation procedures after a court ruled on Wednesday that current methods do not adequately protect biodiversity and human health.
The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal delivered the verdict in the “Justice for the Living” case, brought more than three years ago by five environmental groups.
They include Pollinis, a bee and biodiversity advocacy group; Notre Affaire à Tous (Our Common Cause), a climate justice organisation, and the nature conservation group ASPAS.
The campaigners said the state had failed to protect biodiversity through weak pesticide rules.
The court said in a statement that there was “ecological damage resulting from the use of plant protection products”, particularly affecting human health.
It told the government to review pesticide authorisations that have already been granted, to make sure they meet the rules.
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Evaluation methods criticised
Judges ordered the state to carry out risk assessments “in light of the latest scientific knowledge, particularly regarding non-target species”. The authorities were given 24 months to complete the review.
France’s food and chemicals safety agency, Anses, was singled out. The court said Anses “committed a fault by not evaluating plant protection products in view of the latest scientific knowledge”.
It also said French authorities had failed to meet the requirements of a 2009 European regulation on pesticide marketing.
That regulation states that pesticides must not have “immediate or delayed harmful effects on human or animal health” and must not have “unacceptable effects on plants or the environment”.
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‘Historic victory’
Pollinis called the ruling a “historic victory”. The groups urged the government not to appeal to France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’État.
The appeal court’s decision on Wednesday went further than a June 2023 ruling, which had only ordered the government to take “all useful measures to repair ecological damage”.
The organisations, only partly satisfied at the time, had appealed to push the state to close what they saw as gaps in pesticide risk checks.
Public concern over pesticide use in France has been mounting. In July, more than 2.1 million people signed a petition opposing a draft law that would have relaxed restrictions on agricultural chemicals.
The government must now update its approval procedures and re-examine pesticide authorisations that were not assessed with methods meeting these requirements. The court gave a two-year deadline.
(with newswires)