The Minister of Agriculture has announced that official approval for the use of Cruiser on maize will be extended, but with even more restrictions applying in 2009 than there were in 2008.

On December 2, all three members of ORAMA (AGPB, AGPM and FOP*) met in plenary session and concluded that a warning should be issued to the French Ministry of Agriculture noting the imperative need and urgency for Cruiser, the plant protection product, to be approved for use in 2009.  It was noted that the independent food safety agency, AFSSA, has ruled in favour of approving Cruiser for use on maize.

The French Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Michel Barnier, who was the key person in drawing up the CAP Health Check agreement concluded in Brussels this morning, has made it possible to extend the cuts on direct payments to grain and oil and protein seed producers in France to more than 40%.

The cereal and grain market, and in particular the grain maize market, are currently in a disastrous situation.

The European Union Council of Agriculture Ministers is meeting on November 18, 19 and 20, and should reach an agreement on the CAP Health Check.  For grain producers, the Council must reject the European Commission’s plan for a system of intervention by tender to replace the current intervention system for wheat.

There is nothing now to prevent Bt crops from being grown in 2009.
 
After France invoked the safeguard clause suspending the farming of Bt maize, the European Commission called on the European Food Safety Agency to rule on the matter.  The finding has now been announced, with unequivocal confirmation that the safeguard clause ban is totally unjustified.

ORAMA has presented alarming reports on widespread drops in prices for grain and oil and protein seed crops.  The farmgate price for maize has gone down to less than €100/tonne,  i.e. 25 euros less than in 2006.  At the same time there has been an increase in production costs (e.g. fertilizer and energy) which are going up even faster, and this development is clearly leaving farms in dire financial straits.

The French national federation of seed maize and seed sorghum production (FNPSMS), which is the inter-branch seed-growers’ organisation comprised of members of AGPM Maïs semence (the specialised AGPM section for seed-growers) and seed companies that are members of Seproma, is providing support for research into nephrotic syndrome, a disease affecting the kidneys and immune system.

Prices for European maize have halved in the past year[1]. This collapse has now been amplified by the risk of recession in several consumer areas.

Biofuel and renewable energy, working towards energy independence and with indisputable benefits for the environment, were given priority ranking for government action and have, so far, been supported through tax incentives.  This was done for two reasons:  to establish sectors with long-term viability offering prospects for farming production, and to provide support for national industrial facilities operating with agriculture and creating both added value and employment.

MAIZE ECONOMY & MARKETS

ORAMA has noted the realistic approach in the “Ecophyto 2018 Plan” released by the Ministry of Agriculture on September 10, and is paying special attention to its enforcement in practice.  The plan has focused on the professional standards of field crop producers, with consideration for natural contingencies they have to cope with and the means they have for managing them.  On its own scale, the plan appears to be in line with the balance which the Government has been advocating with its slogan “Produce more and better!”

The French government recently selected 22 projects from a 2006 call for tenders for combined heat and power generation (“cogeneration”) using biomass;  the feedstock included straw, corn stover and energy crops (for nine of the projects).

After heavy rain over recent weeks, ORAMA and IRRIGANTS de France* are focusing attention on the importance of water for farming and the need for an efficient policy on water storage.

As part of the “Grenelle de l’environnement” consultation process in France, ORAMA[1] is now actively embarking on the development of environmental certification of farms specialising in grain and oil & protein seed crops.

After the vote by the European Parliament in October 2007, the European Agricultural Council, under pressure from irrational fears stirred up by certain NGOs, may soon validate regulations that would be the first step on the way to banning many different groups of plant protection products which are essential to farming.

The proposals made by the European Commission for future development of the CAP show an attitude that is dangerously divorced from reality, casting doubt on systems – of intervention and direct aid – designed to help grain producers and oil and protein seed farmers cope more efficiently with market fluctuations.

The French Council of State [Conseil d’État] has turned down the application made by AGPM, the General Association of Maize Growers and member of ORAMA, to suspend the decision banning the production of MON810 Bt maize.  The judge ruling on the application used the complexity of the regulations as a shield to avoid a situation that might cast doubt on the ministerial decree, even though it is clearly of an illegal nature.  The judge thus gave no consideration to the urgency of the matter which had been presented as a further argument by the maize growers because of the negative impact.  Just as sowing is about to begin, such negative effects on finances, plant health and the environment are very real indeed.

Draft texts for regulations drawn up in Brussels as part of the CAP Health Check have astounded AGPB, AGPM and the “COOP de FRANCE-Métiers du Grain”.

This morning, the General Association of Maize Growers (AGPM), co-partner in ORAMA with AGPB and FOP, lodged two appeals with the Conseil d’Etat, one being an application to set aside the ruling handed down on February 7 and modified by a second ruling on February 13, and the other being a summary application for an interim order to suspend the same ruling which bans the use of MON810 Bt maize for crops in France.

The European Commission has just given official endorsement to the EC draft directive on energy from renewable sources.  AGPB, AGPM and CGB have expressed satisfaction with the confirmation of the target of 20% renewable energy in Europe by 2020, which will require the use of biomass to produce heat, electricity and fuel.
 
AGPB, AGPM and CGB have expressed approval, in particular, of the proposal by the Commission for a compulsory minimum of 10% biofuel by 2020, considering that the level is realistic and that the regulatory framework anticipated is reasonable, and specifically for the criteria for the environmental sustainability of biofuels.  In the light of agricultural and industrial data reported to date, it should be possible for France to meet the requirement of a 35% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for all biofuels.
 
The European Commission’s position on the biofuel issue is in stark contrast with the recent about-turn by public authorities in France.  It can be noted that when running for election, Sarkozy, the candidate, had wanted to have all taxes taken off biofuels;  now the tax on them has just been increased and flexfuel vehicles are not granted any credit under the “ecological bonus” system, even though they are environmentally friendly.
 
AGPB, AGPM and CGB are appealing to the public authorities in France to redirect the actions they are taking on global warming so as to give proper and serious consideration to the urgency of the situation and the interests of the general public, as has been done by European authorities.
  
Contacts :   AGPB - Pascal HURBAULT, tél 01 44 31 16 25
                   AGPM - Sophie MARQUIS, tél 01 44 31 10 92
                   CGB - Carine ABECASSIS, tél 01 44 69 41 36

Observing the current increase in grain and oil-seed prices, the Minister of Agriculture has concluded that the CAP Health Check will be an opportunity to cut off support to field crop farmers and transfer the benefit to other sectors.  The minister has now made explicit reference to the regulatory changes needed to achieve this.
 
Logically, he now has to make an equally clear and firm statement to grain growers, specifying what resources should be earmarked for times when markets are less buoyant so as to protect them from a decline in income as dramatic as the drop experienced between 1998 and 2005.
 
The level of grain production is by definition subject to contingencies and, even in a context of strong demand, weather conditions could easily generate surpluses which would be stocked, causing markets to collapse.  This is a parameter of agricultural policy no one can afford to ignore.
 
Contact : Pascal HURBAULT -  01 44 31 16 25

Instead of being a relevant analysis of the mass of scientific evidence available on the subject, the report is more like a catalogue of statements with some arguments more compelling than others.  The alleged doubts in the report had already been addressed in the course of other assessments of MON810, both in France and Europe, and which had all concluded that MON810 maize was not harmful to either health or the environment.
 
The fact is that this ruling has no new scientific data and contains no “serious doubts”;  the summary presented in the speech by Chairman Le Grand is deliberately incorrect and had quite obviously been “prefabricated” to order.