Some of the UK’s leading scientists appealed yesterday to Defra minister Hilary Benn to stand firm against the proposed EU legislation to limit the availability of a wide range of agrochemical products used in the production of fruit and vegetables and cereals.

In an open letter to the minister, seven leading scientists in the field have criticised the EU Commission’s proposals - which would severely impact on Europe's ability to produce food - as being based on politics and not science.

The scientists include the heads of some of the UK’s world-class plant and agricultural science institutions, including Rothamsted Research, the John Innes Centre and North Wyke Research Centre.

Dr Colin Ruscoe of the British Crop Production Council, which organised the letter, said: “At a time of international food shortages the proposal will have a devastating effect on farming and food production in the UK and across Europe. To introduce

such measures in the midst of this crisis is an international scandal and must be resisted. There is no evidence of public health benefit to justify these proposals.

“The heads of publicly-funded world class agriculture science institutions in the UK have come together to sound the alarm and call for the UK government to challenge the scientific basis for these draconian regulations and to put their commitment to evidence-based policy into practice,” he added.

The directive was approved by the council of EU agriculture Ministers at the end of last month. It now goes to the EU parliament, which has called for even tighter controls to be imposed.

“The UK government abstained and we applaud them for that - but it now needs to do everything it can to ensure that British MEPs also oppose the measure,” added Ruscoe.

“The proposal will move pesticide regulation to a hazard-based regime in which ‘cut offs’ are politically determined. The existing very stringent European process for regulation of agrochemicals is based on a scientific approach, assessing both the intrinsic hazard of the chemical and exposure in practice to ensure negligible risk - and then applying large safety margins to reduce it still further.”

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