In a letter addressed to Stella Kyriakides, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, on Wednesday 11 January, 45 non-governmental organisations called on the European Commission to stop allowing the import of food treated with pesticides that are not authorised in the European Union because they have been classified as mutagenic, carcinogenic or toxic for reproduction.
The NGOs welcomed the Commission's commitment to reducing the use of chemical pesticides and the risks associated with them, but believe that EU farmers “should not be exposed to unfair competition from abroad”.
They therefore recommend banning the import of agricultural products “that have not been produced to the same high standards as those produced in the EU”, particularly products that have been treated with pesticides whose use is prohibited in the European Union.
They therefore call on the Commission to implement in full the provisions of the European Regulation on maximum residue levels of pesticides in food (396/2005). This document stipulates that import tolerances cannot be set for pesticides that the EU has banned in order to protect public health.
It should be noted that, in its work programme for 2020, the Commission plans to evaluate regulation 396/2005 and the directive on the sustainable use of pesticides (2009/128).
To consult the letter, go to: http://bit.ly/2v9m8BA (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)