Jeremy Smith, PlanetArk 14 Jan 09;
BRUSSELS - European Parliament members voted on Tuesday to ban some of the most toxic and dangerous pesticides to human health.
The move, likely to be endorsed by EU ministers in the next weeks, would let groups of countries with similar geography and climate decide whether farmers may use specific products.
A list of EU-approved "active substances" will be drawn up, with certain highly toxic chemicals to be banned unless their effect can be shown to be negligible -- such as pesticides classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction.
That list will provide the basis for national EU governments to license each pesticide.
Pesticides already approved will remain available until their 10-year authorization expires, so there should be no sudden large-scale withdrawal of products from the market.
Tuesday's vote was made smoother by a deal struck last month by parliament, the EU's executive commission and the bloc's 27 national governments to hammer out the remaining political difficulties for a final agreement on the new pesticide rules.
EU states will be able to approve pesticides nationally or via mutual recognition within 120 days, with countries divided into three zones -- north, center and south -- so pesticides can be approved for a region rather than a single country.
At present, approvals apply only for individual countries and there is no deadline set for mutual recognition approvals.
Crucially, EU countries will be allowed to ban a product, because of specific environment or agricultural circumstances.
Aerial crop-spraying will mostly be banned, with strict conditions placed on pesticides used near aquatic environments and drinking water supplies. Buffer zones will be set up around water and protected areas along roads and railways.
The changes agreed will make EU rules primarily a hazard-based, not risk-based, approach since they treat products in three categories: whether they are proven or suspected carcinogens, or whether there has been some observation -- but no actual evidence -- of carcinogenic behavior.
The classifications, known as cut-off criteria, have annoyed Europe's pesticides industry, which says the new law will remove products from the market that have been used safely for years.
"The banning criteria are of major concern to industry and the whole European food chain. European farmers have already lost 60 percent of the substances previously available in 1991," the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA) said.
ECPA is an umbrella organization that represents Europe's major pesticides companies. Bayer AG, BASF AND Syngenta AG are among those which would be affected by new EU rules.
Many EU scientists, for example -- backed by countries like Britain -- have been fighting this approach and say fewer available pesticides will lead to resistance problems since pests that are regularly treated with a single product type, not a range of products, will develop tolerance.
This would damage agricultural productivity and make farming of certain crops in Europe uncompetitive, such as wheat and barley, cotton, potatoes and a range of fruits and vegetables, since yields would be reduced, they say.
EU parliament votes by sweeping majority to ban farm pesticides
British government strongly opposed to EU measures which, say critics, may put winter vegetables such as carrots at risk
Ian Traynor, guardian.co.uk 13 Jan 09;
European parliament today voted by a sweeping majority to tighten the use of pesticides in agriculture and to ban 22 treatments, a decision that critics say could wipe out British carrots.
The British government and the Conservatives are against the legislation, but the ban and restrictions were carried by a vote of 577 to 61, putting pressure on the 27 EU member states to support the decision.
Greens celebrated the vote as a victory for environmentalism. But the farming lobby warned that the restrictions were pointless, would wipe out harvests of winter vegetables, and push up food prices during a European recession and worsening unemployment.
The proposed legislation places tight curbs on crop-spraying, bans the use of pesticides near schools and hospitals, and proscribes 22 chemicals, some said to be carcinogenic.
The Green MEP for the south-east, Caroline Lucas, hailed it as "a new milestone for environment and health protection".
"This regulation, the first of its kind in the world, will bring clear health benefits and improve both food and water quality in the EU," she said.
Critics argued that the benefits are unproven and that the harm ascribed to the banned or restricted substances was also not based on evidence. Rather, the draft legislation was based on the "what-if" or precautionary principle.
Labour, Conservative and SNP MEPs were all against the decision which still has to be agreed by the 27 governments of the EU member states to become law. The British government is expected to oppose the ban.
Ministers still have the last say. Britian's environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said: "These regulations could hit agricultural production in the UK for no recognisable benefit to human health, and we are being asked to agree to something here when nobody knows what the impact will be. While we have managed to secure some improvements surrounding the use of certain pesticides, the UK does not support these proposals."
Robert Sturdy, a Conservative MEP on the EU parliament's environment committee, said yields of carrots, cereals, potatoes, onions and parsnips would decline. "The parliament's overzealous approach will take a vast number of products off the market," said
"This law will drive up the cost of the weekly food shop at the worst time for British families."
The National Farmers' Union, which fought the proposals, denounced the bans and curbs as damaging for British agriculture and a threat to food production at a time of potential food shortages and rising prices. The Soil Association ridiculed arguments that the pesticides were needed to maintain crop yields.
If turned into law, the tighter rules would be phased in from next year with the aim of halving toxic substances on plants by 2013.
Labour and the Conservatives are both calling for an impact assessment of the measures before the bans become law, amid claims that the legislation could see British food production fall by a quarter.
