The NFU has expressed its disappointment at an agreement reached by European Agriculture Ministers which it fears will mean large numbers of pesticides could be outlawed.
The compromise agreed by Ministers in Luxembourg on Monday substantially shifts approval of pesticides from criteria based around risk to ones based purely on hazards, with little regard for how substances are used by operators.
A recent report by the UK Pesticides Safety Directorate concluded that between five and 15 per cent of substances were at risk of removal from the market as a result of the EU Commission's original proposals. While the agreement goes a little way to maintaining certain pesticides where no other control option remains, the NFU remains extremely concerned about the impact of the proposals on crop growing across Northern Europe.
NFU Vice President Paul Temple said: "Despite our best efforts, together with those of manufacturers and the British Government to get a balanced deal, the outcome of the meeting is disappointing, if not surprising.
"What is most disappointing is the lack of any proper impact assessment by the European Commission of its proposals for cut-off criteria on agricultural production. At a time of rising food prices and long-term concerns over food security, this is irresponsible. This review has nothing to do with consumer and food safety. In fact, the irony of the situation is that food we import into the EU will be grown using the very same pesticides the EU is trying to ban.
"The UK Government has steadfastly supported the need for a risk-based approach and I praise their efforts and their support of the farming sector on this issue. We have also worked tirelessly with our main EU counterparts to encourage other member states to see sense and know many have tried valiantly to do so. We can only hope that those countries that backed this compromise deal have a clear conscience about the impact on food production.
"However, this is not the end of the process. This proposal will return to the European Parliament for its second reading later this year and we will need the resolve and determination of NFU members to urge their MEPs to use common sense at that second reading."
