Saturday 04 February 2012
Headlines
Did you find this story interesting? (0) (0)
14/07/2009 07:14:05
New Parliamentary factsheet on crop protection – CPA response
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) recently issued a new factsheet (postnote 336) dealing with the issue of crop protection and the potentially damaging impact for UK agriculture and horticulture of the new EU Regulation on pesticide authorisations.
The Crop Protection Association has welcomed the new POST document, both in providing a broad overview of the regulatory context and in maintaining the profile of this critical issue among UK politicians. But CPA is concerned that it over-emphasises the role of other pest control strategies in compensating for the loss of vital crop protection products.
"Crop rotation, cultivation, biological control and selection of resistant varieties are already widely used alongside crop protection products as part of an integrated approach to crop production," said CPA chief executive Dominic Dyer. "We simply cannot maintain an adequate supply of high quality, affordable food without the judicious use of pesticides."
CPA also views the POST document as a missed opportunity to highlight various negative impacts of the new Regulation.
"Switching to a hazard-based system offers no extra protection to consumers, and will simply result in many safe and widely used products being withdrawn from the market," said Mr Dyer.
"The stark facts missing from the POST report are that EU plans to slash the number of pesticides available to Europe’s farmers will not only reduce crop yields and quality, but will also lead to higher food prices, increased food safety risks, a higher carbon footprint and job losses in UK food production.
"Tackling food security in the face of global population growth, climate change and declining natural resources is a challenge which cannot be met without access to the most advanced developments in agricultural technology, including pesticides.
"Europe’s ability to tackle this issue will be seriously constrained unless politicians across the EU are prepared to confront the anti-science culture which currently dominates the European decision-making process.
"The EU must submit its decisions to greater independent scientific challenge and scrutiny. Time and again, sound science has been over-ridden by short-term political expediency in EU-decision-making – resulting in bad policies which block innovation, deter research investment and ultimately stifle progress. The agreement to set new-cut-off criteria for pesticide approvals without any scientific justification or impact assessment, and a near total block on GMO approvals, are clear examples of this issue.
"The EU must act to strengthen the independent scientific advice it receives, and to re-position modern, science-based agriculture where it belongs - as a central part of the economy, at the heart of our future economic, social and environmental development," concluded Mr Dyer.
The Crop Protection Association has welcomed the new POST document, both in providing a broad overview of the regulatory context and in maintaining the profile of this critical issue among UK politicians. But CPA is concerned that it over-emphasises the role of other pest control strategies in compensating for the loss of vital crop protection products.
"Crop rotation, cultivation, biological control and selection of resistant varieties are already widely used alongside crop protection products as part of an integrated approach to crop production," said CPA chief executive Dominic Dyer. "We simply cannot maintain an adequate supply of high quality, affordable food without the judicious use of pesticides."
CPA also views the POST document as a missed opportunity to highlight various negative impacts of the new Regulation.
"Switching to a hazard-based system offers no extra protection to consumers, and will simply result in many safe and widely used products being withdrawn from the market," said Mr Dyer.
"The stark facts missing from the POST report are that EU plans to slash the number of pesticides available to Europe’s farmers will not only reduce crop yields and quality, but will also lead to higher food prices, increased food safety risks, a higher carbon footprint and job losses in UK food production.
"Tackling food security in the face of global population growth, climate change and declining natural resources is a challenge which cannot be met without access to the most advanced developments in agricultural technology, including pesticides.
"Europe’s ability to tackle this issue will be seriously constrained unless politicians across the EU are prepared to confront the anti-science culture which currently dominates the European decision-making process.
"The EU must submit its decisions to greater independent scientific challenge and scrutiny. Time and again, sound science has been over-ridden by short-term political expediency in EU-decision-making – resulting in bad policies which block innovation, deter research investment and ultimately stifle progress. The agreement to set new-cut-off criteria for pesticide approvals without any scientific justification or impact assessment, and a near total block on GMO approvals, are clear examples of this issue.
"The EU must act to strengthen the independent scientific advice it receives, and to re-position modern, science-based agriculture where it belongs - as a central part of the economy, at the heart of our future economic, social and environmental development," concluded Mr Dyer.
No Comments
Nobody has posted any comments on this story.
|
Farming items for Sale
|
John Deere - 7530 TRACTOR - AYLSHAM(GBP 46500)
Renault 85-34 - Aberystwyth
(Price on Application)
(Price on Application)
Ford 6610 - Redruth
(Price on Application)
(Price on Application)
John Deere - 7830 - Thame
(Price on Application)
(Price on Application)
New Holland TM165 - Bruton(GBP 15500)
Related News
Innovative crop protection packaging gets overwhelmingly positive farmer survey response - 09 Apr 2010An advanced range of packaging developed to help improve efficiency, safety and environmental protection when handling liquid crop protection products...
Crop Protection key to Environmental Protection - 08 Sep 2011Crop protection is vital not only in securing Europe’s future food needs, but also in protecting its biodiversity and wildlife. That was the mes...
New Levels Of Protection For Potato Crops - 13 Feb 2006Bayer CropScience today unveiled two new products – Infinito, a mid- to late season blight fungicide, and Biscaya, a foliar insecticide – developed to...
Updated Crop Protection Management Plan sets new targets - 27 Oct 2006The Voluntary Initiative's Crop Protection Management Plan has been updated by the farming unions who have set their sights on registering 1.5 mil...
Cereals Event stand looks ahead to buoyant arable era and new enhanced crop protection packs - 01 May 2008'LOOKING forward to a buoyant era of arable farming.' That will be the major theme for Syngenta Crop Protection at this year's combined Ce...
Rotam – a new name in UK and European crop protection - 20 May 2008Rotam Europe Ltd became the newest name in agrochemical manufacturing and supply following the company's UK and European launch today, at The Farm...
New appointment for BASF Crop Protection - 30 Jan 2009Recognising the strategic importance of the oilseed rape crop, BASF Crop Protection has appointed Will Reyer as Marketing and Value Chain Manager for ...
£13 million to be invested in development of new crop protection technologies - 12 Oct 2009New technologies are to be developed that will help crop growers to respond to the dual challenges of increasing productivity while reducing the envir...
New factsheets point to greater pig productivity - 21 Oct 2009Three new factsheets are now available from BPEX focused squarely on reducing the costs of pig production. Part of the popular Action for Productivity...
New parliamentary group visits NIAB - 04 Jul 2008Translating basic plant science into products of value to farmers and consumers was the central theme of a recent parliamentary fact-finding visit to ...
