By Hafsa Alami
PARIS (AA) - Engaged in a standoff with the government, angry farmers have been trying to block the Rungis international wholesale market as part of their siege to the capital Paris at eight different points leading to it via highways.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal held his general policy speech before the National Assembly on Tuesday and announced some new measures for the agricultural sector in the country, but the leaders of agricultural unions said they were not enough.
This market of national interest, located in Val-de-Marne in southeastern Paris, is a major place for the exchange of food products.
Hundreds of angry farmers, with almost 200 tractors, took to the road to put pressure on the government by threatening to arrive at the center through which most food products pass to supply Paris and its surroundings.
On Wednesday, 15 people were arrested and placed in police custody for “obstructing traffic” near the Rungis wholesale marker, said the prosecutor’s office of Creteil to Le Parisien.
“Reinforcements, particularly armored vehicles, have been sent to Essonne and Loiret to firmly prevent access to Rungis,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on X, formerly Twitter.
While several arteries leading to the capital have been blocked since Monday by a convoy of farmers, the head of the National Federation of Agricultural Operator’s Unions, Arnaud Rousseau, said farmers are determined to proceed with their protests.
“The risk is obviously the overflows, the violence, the excess that we do not want. Once again, our objective is not disorder, but to produce to feed,” said Rousseau on Tuesday in an interview for Europe 1.
“They are about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from Rungis in the highway,” a police officer told Anadolu on Tuesday in a checkpoint leading inside the Ile-de-France region.
Two armored gendarmerie vehicles and several police cars are located on the site to check passing cars, especially large trucks, to confirm identities and the reason for passing.
Rungis has become the symbol of French agriculture production as it supplies nearly 18 million French people with fresh products every day, according to the Market of National Interest.
More than 13,000 employees from over 1,400 companies are active from early morning six days a week.
The market is also the destination for greengrocers, restaurant owners, and market sellers whose numbers are estimated at more than 26,000 regular buyers, according to Semmaris, the company in charge of managing and organizing the market's commercial activities.
In 2022, more than 3 million tons of goods passed through for a turnover of more than €10 billion, equivalent of 0.4% of the French GDP.
Mobilization is expected to continue as territorial intelligence services identified 12,000 farmers mobilized at nearly 120 blockage points, with more than 6,000 tractors at the national level.
More armored gendarmerie vehicles were deployed on Tuesday evening on other highways near Paris, with persistent progress for farmers towards Lyon to block France’s second city.