“Less Argentine beef, more Alesian beef”: in Alès, the Peasant Confederation continues to fight against Mercosur

Breeders and farmers handed out leaflets to motorists to express their disagreement. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

This Tuesday, December 17, against the backdrop of protests over the free trade agreement with Mercosur, the Confédération paysanne demonstrated at the roundabout on the national road 106, south of Alès, to raise awareness among motorists about the farmers' unhappiness.

“It's a deal of cars for meat“, summarizes Didier Marion, goat farmer and spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne du Gard. This Tuesday, December 17, at the initiative of the agricultural union, about fifty farmers and breeders gathered at the roundabout at the end of the national road 106 to distribute leaflets and hot drinks around ten o'clock. The opportunity, of course, to protest against the recent ratification of the free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). A treaty that France has also opposed.

One treaty between the EU and the Mercosur countries synonymous with “catastrophe”

On one of the banners, in the middle of the yellow flags of the “Conf'”, we can read “less Argentine beef, more Alesian beef“. The treaty with Mercosur is “a catastrophe“, argues Didier Marion. The project is, according to the breeder, “a farmer killer“. “We are already struggling to live with dignity, this treaty allows Europe to sell cars and import meat from the South of America.“

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Traffic was severely disrupted from ten o'clock to noon, around the roundabout of the national road 106, south of Alès. Midi Free – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Problem: Mercosur countries are not subject to the same health regulations as European farmers and breeders. In other words, the quality of the meat is unverifiable, often full of chemicals according to its detractors. For consumers, it would be lower quality meat and perhaps even bad for their health.

What the Confédération paysanne is therefore demanding is, on the one hand, a ban on the purchase of products below the resale price and the establishment of minimum import entry prices. “We simply want fair trade“, notes the goat farmer. The organization also denounces “the double talk of the FNSEA“, the majority union of farmers. “We see their leader, Arnaud Rousseau, winking at the farmers he says he defends, and with the other, he speculates on the price of wheat. It's inconceivable.“

Sheep have taken over the place, too. Midi Libre – ALEXIS BETHUNE

The Alès slaughterhouse, gravedigger of breeders ?

At the heart of this dispute is the thorny case of the Alès slaughterhouse. The Alès municipal council met on Monday, December 16 to discuss the possible privatization of the establishment, which is due to close its doors on January 15, 2025. The spokesperson for the Confédération paysanne explains that he receives calls from desperate farmers every day. “They ask us: Do we stop? What's the point of continuing? …“

If the Conf' had already tried to sound the alarm on several occasions, it was to ask that the words of the farmers be taken into account, as they cannot, and do not want to do “an extra hour's drive to go to the slaughterhouse in Langogne, Aubenas…“, according to Didier Marion. The privatization stated by Max Roustan seems inconceivable here. “For what? Pay more for the tonnage of meat? No, thank you!“