Brussels Approves ‘Scandalous’ EU Pesticide Limits
October 2, 2009 On Sept. 24, 2009, the European Council of Ministers voted to adopt the Pesticide Authorization Regulation, reports Farmers Guardian. The new regulation changes the approval of crop protection products from the risk-based approach to the use of hazard-based "cut-off" criteria.
Experts warn that without appropriate tools to protect crops from pests and disease, the new rules will reduce crop yields and quality and increase the cost of food to consumers. The Crop Protection Association (CPA) saying some 15 percent to 20 percent of approved crop protection products could be lost as a result.
"It is scandalous that this legislation has been passed at a time of mounting concern over food security," says CPA Chief Executive Dominic Dyer. “These rules are so at odds with the urgent demands placed on modern, productive agriculture that they call into question the entire EU (European Union) policy-making process." Dyer adds that the entire United Kingdom (UK) food chain had spoken out against the new rules, and the UK government voted against the regulation after the EU repeatedly refused to carry out an impact assessment into the new rules.
On the same day the regulation passed, the United Nations called for a 70 percent increase in agricultural productivity by 2050.
(Source: Farmers Guardian)
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