Consumers will not easily digest the significant price rises for fresh produce and uncertain supplies that ill-thought-out EU proposals on crop protection products could cause, the Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has warned.
The FPC is concerned that more stringent revisions proposed by the European Parliament may be brought back to the table for discussion on EU proposals to introduce cut-off criteria and substitution of crop protection products on a risk-based approach (Plant Protection Products Directive 91/414).
But FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney said that there was no evidence of any benefit to the consumer in terms of safety, and called for a full impact assessment of the proposals to be conducted.
The European Commission’s proposals could lead to the removal of up to 15 per cent of active substances, some of which are critical to UK horticulture, a study conducted by the Pesticides Safety Directorate has shown. The parliament’s proposed revisions in the long term could lead to the loss of 85 per cent of crop protection products, with yields dropping by 50 per cent for key crops such as potatoes and brassicas.
The price of staple foods would need to rise by more than 100 per cent under the more severe restrictions if farm margins are to be protected.
A recent survey by England Marketing has indicated that consumers will find it difficult to manage an increase of 30 per cent in food prices. Only 10 per cent of consumers said that they would look to reduce their family intake of fruit and vegetables - but they did express concerns about maintaining a healthy diet if there were significant increases in food prices.
The majority of people (85 per cent), particularly from low-income households, said that they would change the way they vote for MEPs if they believed that their current MEP was voting in favour of legislation that would increase the cost of food.
Jenney said: “In the current climate of concerns about food security, it seems daft to be imposing restrictions on the ability of UK and European horticulture to supply good-quality produce in a safe, sustainable manner.
“Currently around 1.9 million less well-off people in the UK are eating less than one serving of fruit and vegetables a day. With increasing levels of obesity across Europe, particularly among young people, we should be encouraging more people to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. These proposals will make produce less affordable and reduce the UK’s food security, which is fundamentally at odds with the UK government’s strategy,” said Jenney.
The FPC is calling on the European Parliament to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the impact of these proposals - and if not, for the European Parliament to reject the proposals at their second reading.
The proposals could have severe implications for pest management globally, said the FPC, if resistant strains selected as a result of intensive use of surviving active substances spread. Without a viable market in Europe, it is feasible that some crop protection companies might have to reconsider their investment in research for alternative products
Any imported produce with minute residues of the banned substances could also be banned from the EU, despite the fact that these pesticides are approved for use in non-EU countries.
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