At last it seems people are waking up to the real threat that badly thought-out EU pesticide proposals will have an impact not only on the food and drink industry, but also the world at large.

It always amazes me that makers of potentially catastrophic decisions are allowed to get so far down the line before being properly questioned and, more importantly, before the people who actually understand what impact the decisions will have are consulted.

There has been industry involvement in this process, of course, but the mere fact that we have got to this stage without a serious re-think suggests it has either been overlooked, or the case has not been made strongly enough.

The Fresh Produce Consortium has had this problem high on its agenda for a number of years, and it has consistently encountered a startling lack of awareness of the issue or desire to take positive action from the vast majority of people in the fresh produce industry.

It is clear that most prefer to apply a heads-in-the-sand approach to the availability or otherwise of chemicals to the global grower base. It is easy to allow politicians to take these decisions out of our hands, and complain later when they comes back to bite us.

Here in the UK, we are paying a heavy price for the folly of trusting inadequate politicians to shape our lives for their own devices for too long. Unchecked, Brussels bureaucrats could cause the food chain just as much pain.