French Lawmakers Vote to Ban Imports Made With Banned Pesticides

France’s National Assembly voted late Wednesday to ban imports of food and agricultural products made with pesticides or veterinary medicines that are prohibited in France, a move that sharpened a political fight over farm competition, consumer standards and the limits of European law.

The amendment, introduced by lawmakers from La France insoumise during debate on an emergency agriculture bill, was approved in the early hours of Thursday morning after a heated exchange with Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard, who argued that the measure would not survive legal scrutiny because it conflicts with European rules governing the single market. The vote came as lawmakers sought to strengthen a bill meant to address pressure on French farmers and reinforce agricultural sovereignty.

The adopted language would bar the sale in France of any food, agricultural product, horticultural product or animal feed produced using active plant-protection substances or veterinary drugs whose use is banned in France for reasons tied to human health, animal health or the environment. That wording goes further than an earlier version approved in committee, which had focused on residues of pesticides banned across the European Union rather than only in France.

Aurélie Trouvé, the LFI lawmaker who wrote the amendment, said the goal was to stop what she described as unfair competition faced by many farmers. “What is forbidden in production in France should not be reintroduced through imports,” she said during the debate.

Genevard called the proposal a “false hope” for consumers and tried unsuccessfully to pause proceedings to persuade lawmakers to reject it. She said the measure would not hold up before a judge because France cannot unilaterally impose such restrictions inside the European market. “It will not last three days before a judge,” she told deputies.

Socialist lawmakers also opposed the amendment. Dominique Potier warned that defying European rules would make the measure ineffective and could undermine existing regulations. Despite those objections, the amendment passed with support from lawmakers from LFI, the far-right National Rally and the Greens, by a vote of 76 to 53, with 10 abstentions.

Hervé de Lépinau of the National Rally defended the change as a way to restore fairness for French producers. He told Genevard that lawmakers were targeting a real problem in trade rules that leave domestic farmers at a disadvantage when imported goods are produced under standards that French growers cannot use.

The broader emergency agriculture bill will continue through two weeks of debate before a final vote scheduled for June 2 in the National Assembly. It will then go to the Senate. The dispute over pesticide standards is likely to remain central as lawmakers weigh whether France can tighten import rules without running afoul of European law.