Overview
- The Assemblée nationale approved the ecologist bill in first reading on Wednesday by 144 votes to 22, setting limits of 40 mg/kg in 2027 and 20 mg/kg in 2030 for cadmium in phosphate fertilisers.
- The move responds to an Anses report that recommended a 20 mg/kg limit after finding about half of the French population exceeded safe exposure levels largely through food.
- The government argues for a much slower roll‑out, proposing 60 mg/kg in 2027, 40 mg/kg in 2030 and 20 mg/kg only by 2038, and it must still win Senate approval and publish decrees to implement any schedule.
- A short‑term health step was finalised when targeted urinary cadmium testing (cadmiurie) was made reimbursable from 16 June for patients judged at risk, with tests priced at €27.50 and partly covered by Social Security.
- Industry and agricultural groups warn of supply and cost pressures because most fertiliser phosphates are imported, while producers point to décadmiation methods and OCP says it supplies material below 20 mg/kg to the EU.