France has officially adopted a law to prevent the reintroduction of a bee-killing pesticide known as acetamiprid. The legislation, signed by President Emmanuel Macron, was prompted by a petition with over two million signatures and follows a debate about the pesticide’s risks to human health.
The country’s highest court, the Constitutional Council, ruled that the pesticide was unconstitutional because it violated the right to live in a healthy environment. Although acetamiprid is legal elsewhere in the European Union, the court found it poses “risks to human health.” French farmers’ unions had argued that the ban puts them at a competitive disadvantage, as the pesticide is needed to protect crops like sugar beets and hazelnuts from disease. In response, Health Minister Yannick Neuder has called for a European-level re-evaluation of acetamiprid’s health impacts.