An essential sector

Social and societal

In a globalized market, the sector is faced with competition from Eastern Europe, China or India, where the lifestyle and working conditions of the producers and workers are difficult.

The producers and salaried workers progress in the favourable social framework of western countries to which are added measures which are specific to the sector. Moreover, thanks to strong investment in the development of adapted production tools, the difficult tasks have been mechanized and their difficulty thus reduced.

The organization of the sector makes it possible to take the interests of the personnel and the producers into account whatever the size of their farm.

The lavender and lavandin sector largely uses regional manpower on family farms. It makes it possible to strengthen social cohesion and maintain populations on the territory by offering local jobs.

The structuring of the sector makes it possible to associate all the upstream stakeholders (producers, distillers, cooperatives, first buyers) around collective actions contributing to its development and to local development.

This dynamic also enables the sector to grasp the societal issues connected to its products: by joining the industrialists in EFEO (European Federation of Essential Oils) to discuss with the European regulatory instances the setting up of REACH* regulations or the cosmetics directive, the sector has contributed to the elaboration of proposals adapted to its products and which consider consumer safety

 

* REACH : Règlement européen n° 1907/2006 du 18 décembre 2006 sur l’enregistrement, l’évaluation, l’autorisation et les restrictions des substances chimiques