Brussels, 14/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 12 September, with the adoption of the report by Hiltrud Breyer (Greens, Germany) on the proposal for a regulation to update existing EU law on the authorisation of new pesticide products, the European Parliament's environment committee took a stance at first reading for tougher rules to protect human health and the environment and to stimulate innovation in the chemicals industry. MEPs essentially backed the “substitution principle” contained in the draft regulation and the plan to ban substances that are genotoxic, carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction or endocrine disrupting. They added to the banned category substances with hormonal, neurotoxic or immunotoxic effects and further restricted even the minor exceptions that Commission had hitherto allowed. On the other hand, they refused a point in the Commission's text which was to divide the EU into three geographical zones (north, centre and south), which would have allowed any pesticide authorised by one member state within a zone to be approved by the other countries in that zone under the principle of mutual recognition. The environment committee preferred a single EU-wide system of mutual recognition within which member states would reserve the right to confirm, reject or restrict the approval depending on their national circumstances. (an)