The new criteria for identifying pesticides that operate as endocrine disruptors are expected to come into force on Saturday 10 November, with no exemption for "negligible risk" as initially proposed by the Commission (see EUROPE 12066). The Member States' experts, meeting within the PAFF Committee, did not vote on this provision at their meeting on 23 and 24 October.
The European Commission had completed its task under Regulation 1107/2009 in 2016, with considerable delay, by presenting criteria for defining an endocrine disruptor.
It had taken the opportunity to amend the derogation from the basic Regulation to contravene the principle that an active substance identified as an endocrine disruptor should be banned: instead of providing for an exemption in the case of "negligible exposure", as is currently the case, the Commission proposed to speak of "negligible risk".
This, in the opinion of pesticide control organisations, represents a weakening of legislation.
In the end, in view of the differences of opinion between Member States, it had chosen at the beginning of 2017 to withdraw this exemption from its proposal and to reintroduce it later.
The discussions on 23 and 24 October therefore focused on this new text. But no decision was taken "as several Member States did not have a position", according to the Commission.
It should be recalled that at the time, twelve Member States were in favour of such an amendment (replacing the word “exposure” with “risk”): Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and United Kingdom. Five Member States - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden - were opposed.
It is very unlikely that a new meeting will be organised by 10 November, the date of implementation of the criteria regulation.
A more global framework
At the time, the European Commission also promised a comprehensive EU strategy on disruptive substances in toys, cosmetics and food packaging.
According to our information, it is expected to present a communication towards a comprehensive framework on endocrine disruptors on 7 November and the framework itself in 2019, as evidenced by its 2019 work programme.
According to the roadmap on the framework submitted to stakeholders for consultation (21 June - 19 July), the communication could include the following actions: encouraging research, facilitating public communication, "linking science and regulation" and cooperating globally through the OECD to develop test methods.
Proposal for a derogation related to negligible risks: https://bit.ly/2q71pbE. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)