Foreign products in the sights of farmers, the A75 was diverted last night in Clermont

A long line of vehicles stretches on the A75, a fire has been lit on the highway to divert them towards Salamane. JM – JM

Des produits frais, étrangers, sont sortis des remorques. JM – JM

Les manifestants ont, organisé une nouvelle opération coup de poing, cette nuit, à Clermont. Des centaines de véhicules ont été déviées de l'autoroute. Les produits frais étrangers sont visés par les agriculteurs.

Salad leaves and crushed tomatoes litter the ground. On the side of the aisle, crates of fresh produce are piled up. In the distance, on the A75, a nocturnal blaze diverts the enormous line of vehicles towards the filter barrier set up by the demonstrators at Salamane, at the entrance to Clermont-l& #39;Hérault. This Tuesday evening, the ZAC Clermontaise was the scene of a new strike operation by angry Farmers after a previous action that occurred last Thursday.

On the dam, "we look to see if the products come from abroad, and we collect. We will donate these products to charities", assures a demonstrator. In front of the roundabout, the agris demand that a Spanish driver open the doors of his truck. To cheers, they tear up a few dozen pots of tomatoes. Fruit produced, in the heart of winter, on the other side of the Pyrenees. The driver leaves after a few minutes, his load reduced accordingly…

"We must stop the madness", Justin, farm worker.

Among the demonstrators, Vincent, an organic wine grower in the Heart of Hérault deplores that "the price of organic has been halved. With investments, we can no longer get by. Organic is dead, I'm stopping doing it. I pity the market gardeners here, with all the trucks of tomatoes and peppers arriving… We don't know what to do with them anymore." A At his side, Justin, a wine worker, calmly adds: "I am here for the defense of the earth. All farmers are poorly paid and poorly valued. We are all concerned and that’s why we are here. This evening, it's a punch operation to set an example, the goal is not to waste. We see tomatoes, strawberries, it's January, we have to stop the madness". "I have seen this deteriorating for 20 years, there are always more and more imports", estimates Vincent.

All point to differences in rules from one side of Europe to the other."This leads to the fault of certain farmers who, to try to compete, order products from abroad that are prohibited here and authorized elsewhere" slips a sympathizer of the cause who has come to swell the ranks of insurgents. "These differences in rules between countries lead to distortions of competition which are detrimental to French farmers. I am convinced that the State could intervene on this subject. We don't want to live off aid money, but we want to live properly from the sale of our products", analyzes yet another farmer. 

In Clermont, the operation, which began this Tuesday around 7 p.m., continued until late, very late at night.