At the Agriculture Council meeting in Brussels, on Monday 14 July, many European ministers called for changes to the current rules in order to improve the availability of pesticides.
The Czech Republic, supported in particular by Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania, urged the European Commission to take full account of the new scientific data available to avoid banning certain active substances deemed irreplaceable. “For example, by limiting their approval to strict and controlled use only”, suggests a note presented by the Czech delegation.
Several Member States, including France, also asked for biopesticide approval procedures to be speeded up.
The ministers invited the Commission to update the existing tools under Regulation 1107/2009 (placing plant protection products on the market), which allows for the temporary approval of substances when no alternative solution is available in the EU.
“The fact that different aspects related to plant protection products are on the agenda almost every month now shows that we need to act together”, stressed Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen.
The Commission took note of the request to expand the possibilities for exemption under “essential use”. It has undertaken to examine this request as part of the preparatory work on a proposal for a targeted amendment to the regulation, expected in the fourth quarter of this year. The main objective will be to accelerate market access for biocontrol products as more sustainable alternatives to chemical pesticides, in order to provide farmers with the tools they need to protect their crops effectively.
See the Czech note: https://aeur.eu/f/hvm (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)