Elisabeth Borne, Minister of the Ecological and Inclusive Transition and Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture and Food of France, had committed themselves at the beginning of the year to publish by the end of June the total quantities of active substances in plant protection products sold in 2019 in French market. In accordance with this commitment to transparency, the provisional data are available online today.

These provisional data show the first effects of the measures taken by the French Government since 2018 to reduce the use of phytosanitary products, starting with the products most dangerous for health or the environment:

• The total quantities of active substances sold for agricultural uses, excluding biocontrol products, decreased by 44% between 2018 and 2019 (-28,078 tonnes), after having increased by 18% between 2017 and 2018 (+11,870 tonnes);
  
  
• The total quantities of products of most concern sold (carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxics - CMR) decreased by more than 50% in 2019 compared to 2018;
  
  
• The quantities of glyphosate sold decreased by 35% (-3,358 tonnes) between 2018 and 2019 after having increased by + 11% (+ 999 tonnes) between 2017 and 2018;
  
  
• The relative share of biocontrol products continues to increase, which illustrates a gradual and continuous substitution of the most dangerous substances by these products.

These downward trends fully compensate for the increase in sales in 2018, which occurred just before the increase in the fee for diffuse pollution which occurred on January 1, 2019. Thus, there is also a decrease in the three-year average.

These provisional data come from declarations from distributors of plant protection products, carried out under the fee for diffuse pollution. They will be consolidated by the end of the year, in particular to refine the breakdown of these downward trends between the different uses (herbicide, fungicide, insecticide), the types of products (CMR, biocontrol), and supplemented by d 'other indicators.

In accordance with its commitment to transparency, the French Government makes this data available to the public on its website.