Two leading agricultural charities have lodged a complaint with the EU ombudsman on proposed European pesticide rules this week.

The British Crop Production Council and the Royal Agricultural Society of England have jointly lodged a complaint with the EU Ombudsman on the European Commission's handling of the proposed EC Pesticide Authorisation Regulation, being finalised this week.

Both organisations claim that the European Commission has abused its power in failing to provide a comprehensive impact assessment on new hazard-based pesticide cut-off measures. The proposed regulation is likely to be agreed following a plenary vote in the European Parliament in January.

Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Crop Protection Association said: "We welcome and support this complaint. Despite continued calls from national governments and food chain stakeholders across Europe, the European Commission has refused to carry out an EU-wide impact assessment on the pesticide cut off measures.

“We are now facing a serious risk of introducing legislation which, in Gordon Brown's own words, ‘will damage agriculture and food production without securing meaningful benefit for health or the environment’,” he said.

Last week prime minister Gordon Brown said: “The UK did not support the adoption of a Council Common position on this regulation earlier this year precisely because of the lack of a proper impact assessment.”

The ombudsman must rule on the admissibility of the complaint within a month before taking up the complaint with the European Commission.

The European Ombudsman investigates complaints about maladministration in theinstitutions and bodies of the EU.