On Tuesday, 15 October—in the midst of the debate on the EU’s ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy—PAN Europe (Pesticide Action Network Europe) expressed its opposition to potentially renewing EU approval for two highly toxic pesticide active substances with endocrine-disrupting properties in violation of EU law.
At issue are the renewal of flumioxazin for 15 years and the renewal of cypermethrin for 7 years, which could both receive the green light from Member States in the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCoPAFF) when it meets on 20–21 October.
Flumioxazin is classified as toxic for reproduction and highly toxic for aquatic species, with long-term effects. Cypermethrin, a potential endocrine disruptor, is moreover known to be highly toxic to bees.
According to PAN Europe, a potential renewal would contravene EU legislation and would do so at the suggestion of the European Commission’s Health Services.
“These two substances clearly do not meet the approval criteria to remain on the European market. With these two proposals, DG SANTE is flouting both its legal and political commitments”, commented Salomé Roynel, a campaigner at PAN Europe.
The NGO states by way of a reminder that, according to Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 (or the ‘Pesticides Regulation’), an active substance cannot be proposed for renewal if its endocrine-disrupting properties cannot be ruled out with certainty. The existence of scientific evidence of endocrine disruption thus should be sufficient to ban the substance without further risk assessment.
In June, the European Parliament had objected to renewing approval for flumioxazin, notably pointing out that this substance has been suspected of having potential endocrine-disrupting effects since 2014 (see EUROPE 12738/14).
More recently, the NGO ClientEarth took the European Commission to court for refusing to disclose Member States’ positions within SCoPAFF on renewing approval for cypermethrin (see EUROPE 12803/6). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)