New plant protection product regulations get mixed reception

NEW regulations adopted by the European Parliament on the use of plant protection products were given a guarded welcome yesterday by the Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA).

Brendan Barnes, director of APHA, which represents manufacturers and distributors of plant protection products in Ireland, said the final regulation adopted is a substantial improvement on earlier proposals.

It removes a number of the extreme measures which would have seriously threatened the viability of Irish tillage and horticultural production.

But the “cut-off” criteria in the legislation, which will lead to the removal of a number of vital plant protection products, is still of great concern.

“However, the introduction of a derogation that would allow authorisation of products for five years in the case of a serious threat to plant health is a welcome inclusion.

“It will hopefully ameliorate the negative impact on Irish crop yields and quality,” said Mr Barnes.

Mr Barnes said the most disappointing aspect of the EU decision-making has been the absence of a comprehensive impact assessment.

Meanwhile, European farmers and agri co-ops represented by Copa-Cogeca have expressed mixed views of the outcome.

Copa-Cogeca secretary general Pekka Pesonen said they were relieved the EU will continue to base its legislation on sound science and has not given in to the most extreme voices.

“Balancing product safety, agricultural and environmental sustainability and the availability of healthy, affordable products is our primary objective.

“I believe that after this week’s vote, effective plant protection of this kind should generally remain possible,” he said.

Mr Pesonen said they noted with great concern, however, that the Parliament’s decision concerning some cut-off criteria has not been made on the basis of a sound, risk-based assessment.

“We now urgently need a detailed impact assessment to examine the full implications of the decision.

“We call on the European institutions to start working on this as soon as possible,” he said.