France’s government announces new measures to calm farmers’ protests, as barricades squeeze Paris

By OLEG CETINIC and HELENA ALVES
Associated Press

JOSSIGNY, France (AP) — France’s newly appointed prime minister has announced controls on foreign food products in order to guarantee “fair competition,” seeking to calm the anger of protesting farmers camped out around Paris. Gabriel Attal, in his general policy speech at the National Assembly, also said food retailers who don’t comply with a law meant to ensure a fair share of revenues for farmers will be fined, starting immediately. The farmers’ campaign for better pay, fewer constraints and lower costs has blown up into a major crisis for Attal in the first month of his new job. Protesting farmers encircled Paris with traffic-snarling barricades on Monday, using hundreds of tractors and hay bales to block highways leading to the capital.