The new legislation for parallel imports of crop protection products into the UK has been described by a representative at senior level of a large farmer cooperative as ‘certainly not a healthy outcome’. The legislation for parallels changed on the 1st October this year. This new legislation meant that parallel imports have to have the original batch number and individual MAPP numbers. Individual MAPP numbers for each source country will mean multiple MAPP numbers for the same product, leading to confusion, complexity and potentially increased cost. When combined with the requirement to print original batch numbers on the parallel product, the manufacturer can identify who in Europe supplied the product, enabling them (if they choose to) to frustrate future supplies.
Parallel imported crop protection products are manufactured by the owner of brands already on the market in the UK, but are sourced from other distributors within the EU; hence products have already been proven to the UK’s regulatory authority (CRD) to be safe and efficacious. Sometimes they are confused with generics – a generic pesticide is one that is off-patent and is manufactured by a company other than the original manufacturer. Both parallels and generics tend to be less expensive than branded products and can help with product supply issues.
“I can understand that CRD are trying to help with traceability and there is nothing wrong with that but certain importers will get product X from 5 different countries and then source from a completely different place or country or even source a different product altogether,” says the farming group representative, “It is early days and so the jury is still out on what this new legislation will actually mean in practice. But from a farming groups perspective, if parallel imports dry up or are less easily available as a result of this new legislation, this will undoubtedly have a negative effect on our farmer members.”
Another critical question also arises “Can the CRD unilaterally restrict goods moving into the UK from Europe?” The new legislation could restrict trading.
Tom Mahony of Clayton Crop Protection Ltd. adds that “the new legislation on parallel imports makes life more difficult and, in my view, will not stop companies who do not adhere to the rules bringing in imitation, poor quality material from dubious manufacturers, often outside the EU. This must be quite the opposite of the registration authorities’ intentions,” he says.
Tom explains that his company when bringing in parallel material records the original batch numbers, adds new batch numbers to protect the supplier and relabels it with an English label. “CRD has verified the source of each product in its country of registration and verified that it is equivalent to that registered in the UK. Sometimes products are sourced in 5 different countries in Europe. No instances of questions with Health and Safety have ever arisen in 25 years; but if they did, we would be happy and able to provide information on country of origin and original batch numbers immediately on request.”
The general consensus from different parts of the industry is that this new legislation will disadvantageous for UK farmers, by reducing choice and by increasing input costs at a time when they can least afford it.
