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French Court Bans Controversial Pesticides in Landmark Ruling

  • beelifeeu
  • 1 day ago
  • 2 min read

When Beekeepers defend scientific approach and EU law, not just pollinators In a landmark ruling for pollinator protection and environmental health, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseille has annulled the market authorisations (AMMs) of two neonicotinoid-based insecticides, Closer and Transform, manufactured by Corteva Agrisciences. The decision, issued on February 28 by the French Council of State, represents a significant legal and scientific precedent in pesticide regulation.


The court concluded that the authorisation process endorsed by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) was unlawful, as it failed to comply with key provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. Specifically, the agency did not adequately assess the full formulation of the phytopharmaceutical products, including the synergistic effects of active substances and co-formulants, nor were the toxicological evaluations conducted under real-world conditions of use.


According to the ruling, ANSES had relied solely on semi-field trials conducted in tunnel environments, ignoring the regulation’s requirement for complementary assessments under natural open-field conditions. This methodological shortfall, the court found, rendered the risk assessment insufficient to establish that the use of these products would not have unacceptable long-term effects on bee larvae, behaviour, and colony development.


Christian Pons, President of the l’Union Nationale de l’Apiculture Française (UNAF), which initiated the legal challenge, called the judgment a “turning point in the fight to protect pollinators and uphold scientific integrity in pesticide regulation.” He reaffirmed UNAF’s commitment to demanding stricter evaluation protocols and agrochemical accountability.

“This ruling affirms the need for pesticide manufacturers to prove safety using the only methodology sanctioned by EU law,” Pons stated, “which includes testing in real use conditions and accounting for the full product formulation.”


The decision is especially timely as legislative discussions across Europe increasingly consider the reauthorisation of previously banned neonicotinoid substances, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of their harm to biodiversity and pollinators. UNAF now calls on French and European regulatory bodies to immediately revise and enforce evaluation procedures in strict adherence to EU standards, and to resist further regulatory backsliding under industry pressure.

Corteva Agrisciences, formerly Dow AgroSciences SAS, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company. The multinational corporation, active in agricultural chemicals and biotechnology, reported annual revenues of USD 7 billion in 2013.

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