The agro-chemical and fresh produce trades have raised their game to new heights as they strengthen calls for last-minute intervention in new EU pesticide regulations.
In the latest move, the Crop Protection Association (CPA) has called for the UK government to step in and try to secure a compromise deal.
Already stakeholders from the trade and members of parliament and the House of Lords have made their views clear and lobbied hard. A recent debate in the Lords again questioned the lack of scientific basis for the proposals, which are on course to remove a number of pesticides essential in the production of UK and wider European horticulture crops.
Now, the CPA is hoping to secure a safeguard clause within the final text, due to be agreed by the European Parliament in January, which would require a full impact assessment to be completed before the rules are implemented.
Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the CPA, pictured, said: “It may rest on prime minister Gordon Brown to intervene personally at the European Council level and work with other member state leaders to reach agreement on this.”
David Kidney MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Science & Technology in Agriculture, proposed the impact assessment safeguard clause in a letter to Gordon Brown. Shadow DEFRA ministers Peter Ainsworth and James Paice also confirmed their support in a meeting with food chain leaders.
Dyer said: “This clause would require the European Council to set up an expert group to carry out an EU-wide scientific impact assessment. It would ensure that the potential impact on food production and public health would be fully assessed before the legislation takes effect.”
In a separate move, Greek food chain representatives have written to their prime minister Kostas Karamanlis also calling for an impact assessment.
Observers have said this will cause embarrassment for the head of the commission’s directorate general for health and consumers, the Greek Cypriot Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, who will now come under mounting pressure to accept the need for a full EU-wide impact assessment before the regulation is implemented.
The Fresh Produce Consortium is also pressing for more details of the impact on UK and European horticulture and the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) is expected to complete its assessment this month. FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney said: “We will give further guidance to members and worldwide contacts based on the findings of PSD’s assessment.”
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