Latest news with #AnnieGenevard
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First Post
26-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Tractors parked outside French National Assembly as farmer protests return to Paris
The demonstrations aim to pressure lawmakers into passing legislation that would ease administrative procedures for building livestock facilities and temporarily lift a ban on the insecticide acetamiprid, according to a report read more Tractors are parked outside the National Assembly as farmers protest regulations imposed on them, on Monday, in Paris. AP French farmers on Monday launched a new wave of protests, parking tractors outside the National Assembly and setting up roadblocks across the country in a show of force ahead of a parliamentary debate over a controversial agricultural bill. According to a Politico report, the demonstrations, organised by powerful farming unions FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs, aim to pressure lawmakers into passing legislation that would ease administrative procedures for building livestock facilities and temporarily lift a ban on the insecticide acetamiprid. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The chemical has been prohibited in France since 2018 due to environmental concerns. These measures reflect long-standing demands from agricultural workers, who staged major nationwide protests last year calling for reduced bureaucracy and more support from the government, added the report. The bill, which has already cleared the Senate, is backed by Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard. However, it faces strong resistance from green and left-wing lawmakers. Critics of the proposed law submitted hundreds of amendments in an apparent attempt to delay or derail Monday's debate in the National Assembly. While most of the agricultural sector appears to support the legislation, at least one left-wing farmers' union has publicly opposed it, citing environmental risks and concerns over pesticide use. FNSEA chief Arnaud Rousseau on Monday said protests will continue until Wednesday but acknowledged that they will be mostly symbolic. 'The aim is not to annoy the French, but to bring the message we put across a year and a half ago, which is that French agriculture is in danger,' Politico quoted Rousseau as saying in an interview with FranceInfo. However, France's left-wing opposition parties — notably France Unbowed and the Greens — have voiced concern that both the French government and the European Union are rolling back too many environmental protections, particularly regarding pesticide regulations, in response to last year's large-scale farmer protests. Meanwhile, EU agriculture ministers are meeting in Brussels on Monday to discuss the bloc's Common Agricultural Policy, as well as trade relations with Ukraine and the United States. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD More radical farmers' groups are expected to stage protests in Brussels next week, targeting the EU's environmental regulations and green policies. With inputs from agencies
Reuters
26-03-2025
- Health
- Reuters
France hails bird flu vaccination as poultry let back outdoors
PARIS, March 26 (Reuters) - France said on Wednesday its poultry flocks will be allowed outdoors again after a lull in bird flu infections that the government attributed to a vaccination programme. France in 2023 became the world's first large poultry exporter to launch a nationwide vaccine campaign against highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, as it sought to curb the virus that has ravaged poultry flocks worldwide and spread to other species including humans. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. The country requires vaccination of farm ducks, which are particularly vulnerable to bird flu. "France's vaccination policy has paid off," Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told lawmakers. "France has regained its status as a (bird flu) free country, the risk level is now moderate and ducks will be able to go outside again." The vaccination programme has been welcomed by the French poultry industry as it has helped production recover, despite trade restrictions imposed on France by some importing countries. The United States is considering turning to vaccination as it grapples with a bird flu crisis that has sent egg prices soaring and seen transmission to dairy cows and farm workers. Britain, meanwhile, this week announced that bird flu had been detected in a sheep, the first such reported case in the world.
Local France
14-03-2025
- Health
- Local France
Nutri-Score: France backs strict new food-labelling
The more stringent rules will, authorities believe, will make it easier for consumers to differentiate between foods based on their salt and sugar content. 'In view of the imperative public health issues at stake, the ministers have decided to sign the decree amending the rules for calculating the Nutri-Score,' reads a joint press release from the the Economy, Health, Agriculture and Trade ministers. It is above all a question of 'combating obesity', which leads to 'problems as serious as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers', France's Minister for Health Catherine Vautrin, said on TF1 on Friday morning. In February, a report by consumer watchdog 60 millions de consommateurs – using data from thousands of products – claimed that numerous supermarkets' own-brand products were more likely to contain potentially harmful additives, including higher levels of sugar and salt, emulsifiers, nitrates, and antioxidants. Designed by nutrition specialists, the Nutri-Score system was implemented in 2017 in France, on a voluntary basis, and in six other European countries. This system classifies food products from A to E based on their composition and nutritional value. Nutritional labelling, banning advertising for sweet, savory, and fatty foods, and taxing sugary drinks are 'the most effective public policies against overweight and obesity,' according to a July 2024 study by the service statistique des ministères sociaux. But this new version of the Nutri-Score nutritional label was criticised last week by Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard – because of how it would affect popular French produce including cheese and charcuterie. And ministers warned in their joint statement that they will remain 'vigilant to [possible] side effects' that this updated system may 'create for produce resulting from French expertise'. As a result, ministries concerned will be asked to study these potential 'side effects' and 'initiate discussions at European level to see how they can be better taken into account'. While the French health ministry has encouraged its use, ultimately it is the decision of food companies as to whether they wish to employ Nutri-Score ratings. The EU has discussed making the label compulsory, but as of 2024 a consensus had not yet been reached. Companies and brands that do use it have 'two years to update their packaging and affix the new Nutri-Score'.
