1.
GV Sete harbour.
0.10

2.
MV Sete road sign.
0.11

3.
PAN Held up wine trucks.
0.22

4.
MV Placard PAN demonstrators holding up trucks.
0.37

5.
MV Uprooted road sign PAN demonstrators.
0.42

6.
GV Protest meeting.
0.51

7.
MV PAN Barricades across road.
0.54

8.
MV Truck drivers PAN line of parked trucks.
1.04

9.
MV Barricades burning.
1.05

10.
MV Bulldozers uproot road sign. (2 shots)
1.15

11.
MV Bulldozer uproot railway lines.
1.18

12.
MV Demonstrators throwing debris across railway.
1.26

13.
MV Protest leader addresses crowd.
1.31

14.
GV PAN Crowd at protest meeting.
1.38


SETE HARBOUR: WINE TRUCKS HELD UP: PROTEST MEETING: BARRICADES ACROSS ROAD: TRUCK DRIVERS: PARKED TRUCKS: BULLDOZER UPROOTING RAILWAY LINES: DEMONSTRATORS THROWING DEBRIS ACROSS RAILWAY LINES: PROTEST LEADER ADDRESSES MEETING.




Initials VS 16.15 VS 16.30



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Several thousand small wine growers from the south of France converged on the Mediterranean port of Sete near Montpellier on Monday (29 December) and set up road blocks on all main exist roads.

Some of them tore up a 150-yard stretch of railway track between Montpellier and Boziers, the heart of the "Gross Rouge" wine country, using pick-axes and a bulldozer.

They wanted to symbolise their opposition to the continuing import of cheaper Italian wines which depress French growers' incomes.

Last September, The French government imposed an import duty on Italian wines in defiance of EEC regulations, but southern wine growers maintain that more than 50-million litres a month are still coming through ports like Sete.

A delegation of the growers is expected to urge the French Prime Minister, Mr. Chirac, to suspend Italian wine imports until prices rise sufficiently not to threaten their incomes. But the government has refused this on grounds that it contravenes the European Economic Community's (EEC) common agriculture policy.

SYNOPSIS: Several thousand small wine growers from the South of France converged on the Mediterranean port of Sete on Monday and set up road blocks on all the main exit roads. They held up a number of trucks to show their opposition to the continuing import of cheaper Italian wines.

The winegrowers' protest comes only three months after the French government imposed an import duty on Italian wines in defence of European Common Market regulations. The growers, especially those from the south of France, are maintaining that more than 50-million litres of wine are still coming through from Italy through places such as Sete.

A delegation is expected to see French Prime Minister Mr. Chirac to try and pressure him to suspend Italian wine imports until prices rise sufficiently not to threaten their incomes. They would also ask the Prime Minister to set up a national wine office to regulate the market as happens with meat. The government has already refused similar demands saying that it contravenes the EEC common agricultural policy.

The protesters at one stage tore up a 150-yard stretch of the railway track between Montpellier and Bexiers, the heart of the Gros Rouge wine country. They used both pick-axes and a bulldozer. Others covered the railway track with whatever debris they could find.