Several associations ask the Council of State to ban the agricultural label of “high environmental value” (HVE), accused of “green washing” and consumer deception, in a letter sent this Monday.
The petition on behalf of seven associations for the defense of consumers, the defense of the environment and the promotion of organic farming “seeks the repeal of the regulatory provisions” developed by the HVE. “It was presented on Friday,” said Nadine Lauverjat, general delegate of the NGO Future Generations.
Associations denounce its “misleading nature”
Created in 2012 by the French State, this seal must guarantee, according to the government, that the agricultural practices of a farm “preserve the natural ecosystem and minimize the pressure on the environment (soil, water, biodiversity, etc.) . .)”.
It supposes, for example, a “reduction” in the use of pesticides, which are therefore not prohibited, unlike organic farming.
“Worse still, it does not prohibit the use of the most dangerous pesticides, but officially recognized as harmful to human health”, point out the associations (National Federation of Organic Agriculture, UFC-Que Choisir, Synabio, Future Generations, Bio Consum’actors , Environmental Health Network and Acting for the Environment).
They also denounce “the misleading nature” of the label, to the extent that “the promise of environmental excellence implicit in the label’s name and required by law is still not met by the new standard.”
Reinforcement of criteria for certification
This label allows you to place a logo, which shows a farm surrounded by fields and trees, crowned by a sun and a butterfly, which regularly appears on wine bottles or fruit and vegetable sachets. But his detractors regularly accuse him of allowing only a greening of the facade.
Almost 70% of the 30,000 farms certified on July 1, 2022 are viticulture, at the cost of “fairly strong investments” to improve practices, stressed on Monday Jérôme Despey, viticulturist and general secretary of the FNSEA agricultural union.
“It’s incredible to question a process of progress, I don’t see what it’s good for if it’s not to slow down support for the environmental transition,” he added, recalling that HVE certification “is controlled by independent certification bodies.”
The criteria that allow farms to access certification were reinforced last year, in the face of criticism from Brussels, in order to continue benefiting from subsidies from the European common agricultural policy (CAP).
“A certainly perfectible model”
The level of demand has become “very important”, affirms Jérôme Despey, when the plaintiffs consider, on the contrary, that this “has not improved the situation”.
The Government took note of this appeal, while highlighting the “important renewal work” undertaken to adapt this system to the demands of Brussels, indicated the ministries of Agriculture and Ecological Transition in a transmitted reaction.
Presenting HVE certification as “a useful tool” to support changes in farmer practices, the ministries, however, conclude that organic agriculture remains “the most demanding certification process in terms of agroecological transition”, and they remember the “significant support” that has been given to him. by public authorities.
Source: BFM TV
