European Crop Protection: Failure to Reach Consensus on Important Pesticides in EU Committee Vote

Brussels (ots/PRNewswire) -

ECPA recommends proportionate, evidence-based approach, as
Standing Committee delivers 'no opinion' on neonicotinoids

Member States have failed to reach a qualified majority in a vote
potentially leading to a ban on the use of neonicotinoid based
pesticides on crops attractive to bees. The European Commission's
Appeal Committee will now decide the fate of this important
agricultural technology.

Friedhelm Schmider Director General of the European Crop
Protection Association commenting after the Standing Committee on the
food chain and animal health (SCFCAH) vote:

"ECPA would like to highlight that the proposal to ban
neonicotinoids did not receive a qualified majority at the Standing
Committee. This shows that Member States are doubtful about the
proportionality of the measures proposed by the Commission. The
measures would clearly have an impact on expected yield, economic
growth and jobs with no improvement on bee health."

"Secondly Member States are aware that scientific evidence from
countries where realistic field monitoring was done and risk
mitigation measures are implemented showed that neonicotinoids can be
safely used without unacceptable effects on bee colonies. The bee
health decline is a multifactor problem as recently confirmed by
scientists where pesticides are the last of their concerns."[1]

"We fully understand and support concerns over bee health and need
to ensure that pesticides do not have any negative impact on them, we
believe that the current review process was seriously flawed and that
no suspension should have taken effect on this basis."

The current process and the Commission's proposal would have set a
very negative precedence in the application of the legal framework
set out in Regulation 1107/2009, and contravenes the principles of
predictability, consistency proportionality and legal certainty.

"Therefore as an industry we would suggest going for a more risk
based approach that would include further risk mitigation measuresand
implementation of a comprehensive monitoring to ratify the safety of
the products, as data from certain Member States' monitoring has
already indicated. This would require a full review of all the
available monitoring data" - Friedhelm Schmider continued.

In the meantime, the crop protection industry is willing to
collaborate with EU and national authorities to address all the
perceived data gaps as well as to continue our investment in
stewardship measures to protect pollinators.

"We will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to
understand and develop solutions to the bee health problem" -
Friedhelm Schmider concluded.

For online version please follow the link:

http://www.ecpa.eu/news-item/03-15-2013/715/failure-reach-consensu
s-important-pesticides-eu-committee-vote

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- A comprehensive field study conducted last summer near Guelph, Ontario
Canada found no link between insecticidal seed treatments and bee health.
http://www.producer.com/daily/ontario-field-study-finds-no-link-between-seed-treatments-bee-deaths/#.USdnO0uJBTE.twitter
- Neonicotinoids helps to save up to 40% of the yield of important European
crops (corn, winter wheat, rape seed, sugar beet, sunflower), hence making a very
efficient use of land and water.
- If this key technology is no longer available a potential impact for major
crops, such as maize, rapeseed and sunflower will reach more than 8 million hectares.
- A Humboldt Forum for Food and Agriculture report highlights that if
neonicotinoid seed treatments were no longer available, impact on the EU economy could
be as great as EUR4.5 billion with a loss of at least 50,000 farm jobs across the EU.
Over a 5-year period, the EU could lose up to EUR17 billion and face a significant
increase in pest pressure.
- Neonicotinoid is an essential innovative tool for farmers, without which crops
would be unprofitable (e.g. corn) or unfeasible (e.g. rape seed), due to its
importance in managing systemic pests (e.g. rape flea beetle). Further information on
the value of neonicotinoids can be found at http://www.neonicreport.com

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1. Risk Management for bee health, Laddomada, Head of Unit G2
Animal Health, Directorate-General for Health and Consumers European
Commission, Brussels
http://www.ebcd.org/pdf/presentation/304-Laddomada.pdf

Contact:
Anna Seretny, Communications Coordinator, anna.seretny@ecpa.eu
Angel Martin, Senior Manager Governmental Affairs angel.martin@ecpa.eu
Switchboard : +32(0)2-663-1550

For more general information:
http://www.ecpa.eu
http://www.hungry4change.eu
http://www.facebook.com/cropprotection
http://www.twitter.com/cropprotection
http://www.pollination-station.eu

ots Originaltext: European Crop Protection Association
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de