REGULATIONS TO ban 22 substances from use in pesticides in the EU were approved by MEPs yesterday.
The measures, opposed by the Irish Farmers’ Association, aim to restrict the number of chemicals used in crop production.
Substances banned include some fungicides, herbicides and insecticides that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction. Endocrine-disrupting substances, that act like hormones and disrupt the function of some hormones, are also banned.
Two fungicides, Carbendazim and Dinocap, will be banned from this year while other substances, with recently awarded licences, will be in use until 2018. The latter group includes Epoxiconazole, a substance used in Ireland to control the fungal disease, septoria, in winter cereal.
A derogation from the outright ban is provided for, however. This will allow the use of some substances in individual countries where no alternative is available to treat a particular plant disease. And if a substance is needed to combat a serious danger to plant health, it may be approved for up to five years.
Measures to ban crop spraying were also approved yesterday, as part of a directive on the sustainable use of pesticides.
The directive introduced rules on the training of pesticide users. And the use of pesticides in parks, schools, sports and hospital grounds is also to be minimised or prohibited as part of the legislation. Both the regulations and the directive are still to be endorsed by the European Council, but this is likely to be a formality.
Fine Gael MEP Maireád McGuinness said there were concerns about the implications for cereal and potato growing in Ireland and the concern would be justified if there was an immediate ban on certain substances.
“However, given that the industry now has some clarity about the substances of concern, it has the time to respond and produce alternatives,” Ms McGuinness said. “If alternatives are not available it is also possible to continue the use of products by way of derogation for a specific time period.”
Ms McGuinness said the plant protection industry had a window of opportunity to work within the new legislation and tailor their research programmes to meet the demands of the regulations.
However, she criticised the EU Commission for its failure to address the issue of food imported into the EU, which could be treated with substances removed from use within the EU.
She said the EU had set high standards of production in manufacturing and many of the industries left the EU to be produced in countries with lower standards. The goods were then imported back into the EU.
“We are in danger of doing the same when it comes to food production,” she said.
“The only way to avoid this is for the EU to insist that its high standards are taken up by other countries and become the global norm.”