Apples going to waste in Murcia, Spain. EU agrochemical legislation could potentially make the production of many crops problematic Photo: Fran GC

As food prices rise around the world, more European groups are predicting that the region's food production will be adversely affected by proposals to change EU agrochemical legislation.

The latest warning comes from European agricultural scientists, who argue that politicians have "overlooked" the fact that the potential loss of pesticide active ingredients would lead to the increased development of resistant pests. The scientists fear that this will endanger food predictability and security, and make the production of many crops, including grapevines, wheat, barley, cotton, fruit, potatoes and vegetables, in Europe "problematic and/or uncompetitive".

The forthcoming revision of the EU agrochemical registration Directive (91/414) and its impact on the sustainability of resistance management were discussed in a workshop at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (Ljubljana) on April 22nd. A declaration on the potential risks was signed by scientists from seven countries at the meeting and presented to the Slovenian Agriculture Minister, Iztok Jarc. Slovenia holds the current six-month EU presidency.

The scientists are particularly concerned about the European Commission's proposals to introduce hazard-based criteria into the EU agrochemical registration process and the European Parliament's attempt to increase the range of hazard criteria used. While the Parliament's call for additional hazard criteria was recently rejected by the Commission (Agrow No 540, p 11), heated debate over the issue is likely to continue at the Parliament's second reading later this year.

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The scientists echo views previously expressed by the agrochemical industry that the use of even a limited range of hazard cut-off points would be detrimental. Implementation of such criteria would have a disproportionate impact as it would result in the loss of whole classes of chemistry, they argue. The proposed legislation would force farmers to use a smaller number of ais more intensively, and this would increase the likelihood of resistance developing to the remaining pesticides. The environment would also be adversely affected due to increasing application rates, reliance on single ais, and illegal use, the declaration points out.

Workshop participants noted that resistance to insecticides, fungicides and herbicides is already a serious problem for the production of a number of major and minor European crops. From a resistance management viewpoint, the European agrochemical portfolio has already been "very seriously impaired" by the ongoing EU review of existing ais. Of the 952 existing ais, some 530 have already been eliminated and a further significant reduction in ais is to be expected, the scientists conclude.

The declaration calls on European politicians to acknowledge the need to retain sufficient product diversity in order to manage the threat of resistance development. Special attention should be given to the limited availability of IPM-compatible and low resistance risk pesticides. In addition, a fast-track approval process should be considered for innovative solutions for unfulfilled needs. Incentives should be provided for minor-use products, as these will be most impacted by the revision of Directive 91/414, it says.

To safeguard the production of food at affordable prices, it is essential to provide farmers with access to sufficient diversity of crop protection solutions Photo: Mette Finderup

"In order to safeguard the production of food at affordable prices, it is essential to provide farmers with access to sufficient diversity of crop protection solutions," says the scientists' spokesperson, Dr Ian Denholm, head of the plant and invertebrate ecology division of Rothamsted Research, UK. Earlier this year, a study by Italian research institute Nomisma predicted that the planned revisions to Directive 91/414 could lead to reductions of 10-33% in yields of key European crops (Agrow No 537, p 8).

An internal UK government report produced for EU Agriculture Ministers adds to the predictions of substantial ai losses, reports Brussels news agency AgraFacts. The Ministers are discussing the proposed changes to Directive 91/414 and aim to reach an agreement before the summer. The Parliament's bid to increase the range of hazard criteria would remove around 65% of insecticides, at least one-third of fungicides and more than 25% of herbicides, the UK report estimates. The Commission's plans for comparative assessment and product substitution, which would limit approvals to five years for ais that are "candidates for substitution", would affect over 75% of existing insecticides and herbicides, it adds.

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