Overview

• On June 27, about 150 farmers and environmental activists organized by Confédération paysanne49 and Soulèvements de la Terre occupied the Phyteurop pesticide plant in Montreuil-Bellay.
• They parked tractors and displayed banners reading “Stop aux marchands de mort” and “Duplomb poison” to underscore health and ecological concerns over reintroducing acetamipride.
• Production was halted for five hours under safety protocols, with the blockade lifted shortly after 1 p.m. local time.
• Protesters demanded a transition to agroecological farming and warned that the loi Duplomb would benefit a minority at the expense of public health and biodiversity.
• The group has called for further demonstrations this weekend and on June 30 when parliament will examine the bill allowing derogatory use of the banned neonicotinoid.