As part of the Green Pact, the European Commission is studying a legislative project that could classify essential oils as toxic. In full development, the Lotoise lavender sector does not intend to let it go.
The news provoked the ire of Lotois lavender producers and distillers. As part of this legislative project aimed at “an environment free from toxic products”, the European Union could ask distributors to affix a toxicity logo on essential oils and derived products intended for cosmetic use.
Lavender essential oil naturally contains Linalool and Limolene, allergenic molecules in very high doses. “Imagine putting a skull on your baguette because it contains gluten”, annoys Jean-Marc Soulayres, president of the association of producers of perfume, aromatic and medicinal plants (PPAM) in Quercy , and lavender producer at the Alix farm in Rocamadour.
The text, still under debate, should be published by the end of 2022 and will not come into force before 2025. However, concern is mounting among players in the sector. Launched by the PPAM sector in France, a petition asking the European Commission to “take into account the specificity of natural products, in particular that of essential oils”, has already collected more than 120,000 signatures.
A growing sector in the Lot
In the area which extends from the Lot to the north of Tarn-et-Garonne, the PPAM in Quercy counts some 100 hectares of lavender cultivation. For Rémi Branco, vice-president of the Lot department, “this restarting production is an opportunity both for our producers but also for our landscapes”.
In Saint-Paul-Flaugnac, in the south of the department, Benoît Gispert has been producing lavender for a year. The legislation could slow down his projects, he wonders: “I am worried about the evolution I had planned: is it worth it to take the risk of planting more lavender and increasing my area? ? ” Benjamin Zimra, producer of aromatic plants at Escamps believes: “The legislation would push some small producers, like me, to reduce their production because of costs. We are less equipped to carry out technical analyzes justifying the presence of certain toxic molecules.”
“Prevention is better than cure”
However, the producers of the purple plant do not admit to being beaten. Benjamin Zimra wants to be confident about the future: “I do not see this past regulation and in any case we will not let it go, and I think that the lavender-producing states either.”
While the law is only at the stage of debates, the representative of the Quercine association is banking on the saying “prevention is better than cure”. He explains: “Small lavender producers are nothing compared to chemistry, you have to be heard.” The elected representative in charge of agriculture in the Lot also favors this approach: “Within a year, it goes without saying that we will have to remain vigilant not to accept the most serious case, which would be the classification in toxic products. The echoes received from the Ministry of Agriculture, however, suggest that this new regulation will not apply to essential oils. ”
–
