Overview
- The Marseille tribunal set three days of hearings through Wednesday for six growers and their supplier over trafficking and use of unauthorized pesticides.
- Investigators say about 3.5 tonnes were sold and applied between 2018 and 2024, and the accused include major producers Didier Cornille and Frédéric Berlhe.
- Supplier Alain H., 78, faces 11 counts, including falsified invoices labeling pesticides as fertilizers, following a prior conviction in a similar 2021 case.
- The products were mainly imported from Spain, with some from Greece or Romania, and probes reported counterfeit goods and a neurotoxic insecticide no longer approved in the EU.
- Environmental and consumer groups including FNE, Générations Futures, LPO Paca, UFC-Que Choisir and the Confédération paysanne joined as civil parties, while defendants face up to six months in prison and €150,000 fines with corporate liability also pursued.