French MPs approve tougher cadmium limits despite government opposition
The draft law, adopted on Wednesday in the National Assembly by 144 votes to 22, sets out a faster timetable to reduce permitted cadmium levels in fertilisers used in agriculture.
The measure passed despite government opposition, with ministers warning that the pace of reduction could harm the competitiveness of French farming.
"There is an overexposure of the French population to cadmium compared to our European neighbours," junior ecology minister Mathieu Lefèvre said. However, he argued that "the pace of reduction… is not realistic" and risks undermining "our food sovereignty".
Food is a major source of cadmium exposure, particularly staple foods such as wheat and rice, a report by France's health agency Anses found. Prolonged exposure is linked to cancer, kidney damage, reproductive toxicity and bone fragility.
In 2025, nearly half of the French population exceeded recommended safety thresholds.
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Moroccan deposits
The parliamentary vote has turned attention to the origins of cadmium in French agriculture, chiefly phosphate fertilisers, much of which are derived from Moroccan deposits.
A report by French investigative website Mediapart published in April highlighted tensions around this supply chain and focused on a €350 million loan granted in 2025 by the French Development Agency (AFD) to Morocco's state-owned fertiliser giant OCP.
The loan, the largest non-sovereign financing in the agency's history, was intended to support OCP's decarbonisation, including renewable energy and desalination projects. Organic fruit on sale at a market in Toulouse, southwestern France. Organic farming is at the centre of a growing row over cadmium contamination in food.
However, the deal has come under scrutiny following the Anses report. The agency said phosphate rock used in fertilisers sold in France "mainly comes from sedimentary deposits located in Morocco", which contain significant levels of cadmium.
Benoît Biteau, a Green MP and one of the authors of the bill, argued that this dependency has direct health implications. Cadmium exposure levels are "two to three times higher in France" than elsewhere, he told Mediapart, attributing this to "our dependence on phosphate fertilisers from Moroccan deposits".
The AFD has defended the loan, saying fertilisers exported by OCP to the European Union are now labelled "low cadmium", with levels below 20 milligrams per kilogram, under both EU regulatory limits and Anses recommendations.
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Loan scrutiny
An internal "second opinion" from risk experts, quoted by Mediapart, warned that the AFD's exposure to Morocco was already high. A staff member also raised concerns in 2025 about cadmium-related risks, writing that alerts to superiors and technical experts had been dismissed.
Despite these warnings, the loan was approved and partly disbursed. Details of the financing remain unclear, with the AFD citing banking secrecy. By April 2026, €200 million had already been paid out, according to the agency's own data.
Supporters of the deal say its purpose was environmental improvement. Frédéric Petit, a centrist MP who sits on the AFD board, said the financing "did not fund fertiliser production" but aimed to help decarbonise "Morocco's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases" and improve water management.