Emergency agricultural law: the Constitutional Council approves the controlled return of two pesticides

On Friday, August 14, the Constitutional Council upheld almost the entire emergency agricultural law, including provisions allowing the temporary reintroduction of two banned pesticides. Acetamiprid will be permitted under exemptions for hazelnut cultivation, while flupyradifurone will be allowed for use in the apple, cherry, and sugar beet sectors.

The experts acknowledge that these substances pose risks to biodiversity, particularly to pollinating insects and birds, as well as to water and soil quality and human health. However, they consider that the legislature is pursuing a matter of public interest by seeking to protect certain threatened crops and to limit distortions of competition with European farmers authorized to use these products.

Two reservations imposed on Anses

Unlike the provisions of the Duplomb law, which were struck down in 2025, the new exemptions were deemed sufficiently regulated. They concern a limited number of crops, take into account the method of application, and can only be granted temporarily by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES). The Council specifies that ANSES must also be able to geographically restrict their use when environmental circumstances require it.

The Constitutional Council also considered that the two-month deadline given to the agency might be too short to verify all the health and environmental conditions. Therefore, the lack of response from ANSES by the end of this period should be considered a refusal, not an implicit authorization. The Constitutional Council also upheld measures facilitating water storage for agriculture, including the objective of doubling available volumes by 2035, at a time when drought is weakening many French farms.