France will stop importing cherries from countries that use insecticide dimethoate after banning the chemical due to concerns over consumer health risks, the French agriculture ministry said.
At a meeting of European Union country representatives on Friday, Italy and Spain said they would also withdraw dimethoate from their markets, but France said it would still move to prevent the import of cherries from countries that continued to allow the pesticide, used against fruit fly.
"France confirmed today that it would not grant any exemption to use dimethoate for protecting cherries, a position also announced by Italy and Spain," the ministry said in a statement.
Under EU procedures, France's urgent action would normally trigger another meeting of countries representatives within a week.
France had called for an emergency EU-wide measures to prevent the use of products containing dimethoate and the marketing of cherries grown using them at a closed-door meeting of experts representing the 28 EU member states on Friday.
The European Commission, however, said it opposed the idea of immediate restrictions.
France's health and safety agency withdrew the license for dimethoate in February, and has since sought an EU-wide ban.
France imported around 7,000 tonnes of cherries in 2014, compared with domestic production of 47,000 tonnes, according to figures from farm office FranceAgriMer.
France, Italy and Spain are among the major cherry growers in the EU which also include eastern members Poland, Hungary and Romania.
France said an opinion issued this week by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) supported its position by suggesting that health risks could not be excluded on the basis of available data.
The French farm ministry says alternative products exist to treat cherries, a position rejected by farmers who say dimethoate is the only effective treatment at a time of high fruit fly presence.
