France says pesticide ban will not hit grain exports

France will ensure that a decision by health and safety agency ANSES to ban the use of a pesticide in direct contact with grains does not hamper its exports outside the European Union, its trade and agriculture ministers told Parliament on Tuesday.

In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for killing pests though fumigation, but said they could not be "in direct contact with cereals", thereby threatening exports to markets that require the process, including Algeria, Egypt and Morocco.

He said that EU countries including Germany and Bulgaria were also using the pesticide on grain exports to Algeria.

If inhaled in large doses, phosphine can cause respiratory, neurological and gastrointestinal disorders.

The questions in Parliament followed a weekend report by l'Opinion newspaper that said French grain exports would come to a halt from April 25.

With the deadline looming, French grain producers had called for a swift response from the government.

"We are depriving ourselves of a quarter of the outlets for French cereals," Eric Thirouin, head of French grain growers group AGPB, told Reuters.

Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, will be the main beneficiary if the ban is confirmed, Thirouin added.

Exports put at risk by the ANSES decision amount to about 4 billion euros ($4.37 billion) in trade surplus, compared with a total grain trade surplus of about 11 billion euros last year, he said.

Source: Reuters