Several Portuguese trucks have been stranded across France for a week due to blockades by French farmers, the spokesman for the National Association of Public Road Freight Carriers (ANTRAM) told Lusa.

"We can't quantify it, but there are many Portuguese truck drivers stranded due to the blockade of farmers in France. At the moment the situation is very worrying, not only because it is a situation that has been dragging on for several days, but because there is no visibility on when it could end," said André Matias de Almeida.

French farmers are blocking several roads in the country to denounce, above all, the fall in incomes, low pensions, administrative complexity, inflation of standards and foreign competition, and intend to carry out an "indefinite siege of the capital [Paris]", starting on Monday afternoon.

"The effect of both the roads in their circulation and at the entrances to other roads that could be alternatives to motorways are blocked. Today we have about 20 motorways blocked throughout France, which has greatly affected the import and export of Portuguese companies," said the ANTRAM spokesman.

The ANTRAM spokesperson stressed that, for now, there are still no problems in the supply of basic necessities, but this time Portuguese companies are being greatly affected. According to André Matias de Almeida, it has not been possible to circumvent these blockades by farmers.

"Today there is a French legislative decree that lifts restrictions on the circulation of vehicles, but only allowing them to return to their place of origin, to the parent company, or to complete the route that is closest to the destination, which means that there is a clear effect on what the supply market is," he said.

André Matias de Almeida recalled that Portuguese companies were not so affected when a few months ago, in Spain, there was a protest by truck drivers. "Even in Spain, what we remember a few months ago with truckers' protests – this time they are not truckers, but it is a similar protest – there was no parallel with what is happening in France, not only because of the scale it reaches, but because of the number of days it lasts. We have a blockaded country," he said.

The official also told Lusa that ANTRAM is in permanent contact with the French counterpart, making hourly updates to the more than two thousand members.

For days now, French farmers have been using their tractors to block roads and slow down traffic across France, in search of better remuneration for their products, less bureaucracy and protection against imports.

On Friday 26 January, the government announced a series of measures that, according to farmers, do not fully meet their demands, which include the "drastic simplification" of certain technical procedures and the progressive end of diesel taxes for agricultural vehicles.

Meanwhile, the French government promised today to present, within 48 hours, new measures in favour of farmers and announced that it intends to renegotiate the end of mandatory fallow at the European Union (EU) summit scheduled for Thursday.