Brussels, 22/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council, the Netherlands received a certain amount of support for its calls to speed up the move to phytosanitary protection which is “compatible with sustainable development”, in Luxembourg on Thursday 22 October.
This Dutch initiative aims to promote a broader range of authorised measures and substances which are more environmentally friendly, for instance by increasing the usage of plant health techniques and methods with fewer risks, base substances and low-risk substances and products. The Netherlands has called for an expert group to be set up, to be made up of the interested member states and tasked with studying actions which could help to make the arsenal of tools available to farmers for crop protection 'greener'.
Several countries supported the Dutch calls: Sweden, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Portugal, Lithuania, Slovenia, Portugal, Latvia and Spain. Belgium called for the mandate of this working group to be very specific, so as not to bring in additional obligations for producers. Romania called for the Commission to structure the dialogue within the group. Reiterating that there is already an expert group within the European Commission working on low-risk products, the United Kingdom takes the view that the working group in question should above all assess the best ways of promoting this 'greening' of the fight against pests. The European Commission seems to agree with this idea of creating an expert group.
Specialised nutrition. France also referred to the continuation of legislative work and foodstuffs earmarked for a specific purpose ('particular nutritional uses' or PARNUTS). Under the legislation in force, two reports were supposed to be published this summer, one on milk-based drinks and similar products aimed at younger children and the other on foods designed for athletes. France, supported by Ireland, Greece and Portugal, called for these reports to be published so that the legislative work on foodstuffs for a specific use can be continued. The Commission, which acknowledged the delay in the publication of these reports, said that it would publish them in the near future. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)