January - February 2003
1. PAN Europe activities 2002
Pesticide Use Reduction in Europe (PURE) campaign
In May 2002 published its Suggested text for a Directive
on pesticides use reduction in Europe (PURE), which lays down
measures aiming to contribute to a high level of protection of human
health and the environment via the reduction of dependency on, and
elimination, where feasible, of the use of pesticides. The suggested
text was accompanied in November 2002 by an Explanatory Memorandum
which provides a detailed justification for the proposal, looking
at the present situation and impacts on health and environment,
current EU actions to reduce impacts, Member State experiences with
use reduction programmes and detailed explanation of the measures
we propose. We invited feedback on the draft PURE Directive from
the Commission, Council and Parliament and from other stakeholders.
As of February 2003, 71 organisations in 22 European countries
have signed up to support the PURE campaign, including environmental,
public health, consumer and farmer organisations.
The suggested text and Explanatory Memorandum can be accessed on
the PAN Europe website and an up to date list of co-signatories
obtained from the PAN Europe Coordinator in London.
Lobbying and participation in European Commission
pesticide policy
The EC finally published its Communication Towards a Thematic
Strategy for Sustainable Use of Pesticides in July 2002 (available
at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ppps/home.htm)
PAN-E broadly welcomes the initiative but believe it falls short
of introducing strong and immediate European action. Together with
the European Environmental Bureau, we provided point-by-point comments
in September on the different elements in the strategy. These comments
can be found under PAN Europe Policy Papers on our website and were
published on the Commission’s DG Environment website under
Plant Protection Products.
Prior to the Commission’s Stakeholder Conference to discuss
the Thematic Strategy on 4 November, we produced a joint stakeholders’
declaration (also on our website) with EEB and 12 other European
organisations, outlining the measures we believe are necessary for
a European pesticides strategy and demanding binding legislation
to reduce pesticide application frequency by 25% in 5 years and
by 50% in 10 years and a ban on pesticides which are bioaccumulating,
carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic or endocrine disrupting.
At the Conference, PAN Europe Board members Catherine Wattiez and
Hans Muilerman made presentations on PURE and on Integrated Crop
Management as the minimum requirement for crop growing. PURE Working
Group members Gretta Goldenman of Milieu Ltd and Stefan Scheuer
from EEB made presentations on the case for mandatory use reduction
and conditions for effective EU-wide risk reduction, while PURE
co-signatory organisations European Public Health Association and
European Farmers’ Coordination presented their views of reducing
pesticide use. These presentations can be found in the Commission’s
report of the conference at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ppps/home.htm
Since then, PAN-E has been involved in lobbying rapporteurs and
MEPs to support the very positive report by Kathleen Van Brempt
of the Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and
Consumer Policy on the Commission Communication Towards a Thematic
Strategy for Sustainable Use of Pesticides. The Van Brempt
report PE319.402 is here.
PAN-E and EEB successfully lobbied Environment Committee MEPs in
January and February with our voting recommendations on the amendments
to this report and the report was adopted by a large majority, with
a united front from Socialists, Greens and Liberals. Concern about
pesticides is a very hot issue, at least within the Parliament Environment
Committee, and bodes well for strong Parliament support for a much
more progressive approach to pesticide policy than is currently
emerging from the Commission.
Pesticide authorisations and risk assessment
PAN-E participated in another Commission stakeholder meeting in
July on the review of the EU pesticides authorisation directive
91/414, pushing for more stringent cut-off point criteria for pesticide
evaluation and for greater public participation in pesticide regulation
decision-making. We are also following and commenting on the passage
of specific active ingredients of concern, through the decision-making
process for inclusion or exclusion in the directive’s Annex
I of pesticides approved at EU level, via Board Member Hans Muilerman.
These include the insecticides endosulfan, dichlorvos, chlorpyrifos;
the insecticide/nematicide aldicarb; the nematicides methyl bromide,
metam-sodium and Cis-1,3-dichloropropene, the herbicides atrazine,
paraquat, bentazone, glyphosate and the fungicides mancozeb/maneb
and chlorothalonil. This work also includes the “essential
uses” decided in relation to pest/crop combinations for which
there will be no other registered pesticide alternatives following
the revokal of 320 active ingredients from the EU market from July
2003 [see EU pesticides clear out, Pesticide News 57 p 8] and those
registered for minor crops.
Comparative Risk Assessment
PAN-E members took part in the Pesticides Challenge: promoting
safer pest management conference organised by PAN UK in London
in November 2002 to explore options for comparative risk assessment
of pesticides. This important conference brought together 100 delegates
including regulators, food importers and retailers, NGOs and researchers
from Europe to discuss the limitations of current regulatory systems
and how to move towards a system which phases in safer alternatives
to hazardous pesticides. Summaries of the presentations are found
in Pesticides News 58 and the conference proceedings will be available
from PAN UK in March 2003.
Stop Paraquat Campaign
PAN-E signed up to support the Stop Paraquat campaign, coordinated
by the Berne Declaration NGO in Switzerland, with lobby action on
the company Syngenta to stop the manufacture and sale of this acutely
toxic herbicide, one of the original Dirty Dozen pesticides. As
a result of high profile media work by the campaign in Switzerland,
the Swiss government announced in December 2002 its decision to
support efforts to add paraquat to Annex III of the Prior Informed
Consent (PIC) Rotterdam Convention to protect developing countries
from the harmful consequences of this highly toxic pesticide, banned
in Switzerland since 1990. With EEB, PAN-E joined lobby efforts
by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation to urge member state
representatives on the EC Standing Committee on Food Safety &
Animal Health to decide against its inclusion in Annex I of the
EU pesticides directive, when this comes up for discussion in February
2002.
Public Participation in Pesticide Policy
PAN-E conducted a study, led by Ute Meyer, on NGO and Public Participation
in Pesticide Policy Processes. The study looks at current experience
in effective participation in chemical and pesticides risk assessment
with a focus on the EU pesticides authorisation directive 91/414
and issues of transparency, access to information and the balance
of stakeholder involvement. The study will conclude with an NGO
workshop on 17-18 March 2003 to discuss the findings and develop
recommendations for the most effective options for future participation
and lobbying around pesticide policy and evaluation.
News and Information
EU revokal of active ingredients from July
2003
The full list of active ingredients to be revoked and “essential
uses” for 49 of these can be found at
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2002/l_319/l_31920021123en00030011.pdf
or via EuroLex
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/search/search_lif.html
and search for Regulation 2076/2002.
MS must cancel registration of products containing these actives
by July and usage must end by 31 Dec. 2003.
Non-transparent and undemocratic: PAN Germany’s
suggestions for a Codex Alimentarius Commission reform
A new position paper from PAN Germany comments on the Codex Alimentarius
Commission (CAC) and makes suggestions for a reform of this little
known but influential international commission for food standards.
PAN Germany participated as a member of the German CAC delegation
in the meetings of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues from
1997 to 2000. Conclusions drawn from its own experiences with CAC
are now presented in a brochure titled “Towards pesticide-free
food: PAN Germany’s suggestions for a Codex Alimentarius Commission
reform“ with an evaluation on the CAC process. Main criticisms
identified by PAN Germany are:
- Biased and non-transparent decision-making process
CAC follows a biased, unbalanced and non-transparent decision-making
process. Non-profit NGOs are hardly involved in the decision-making,
the interested general public not at all. Developing countries
are under-represented in Codex meetings because they lack financial
resources and scientific expertise for participation.
- Free trade outcompetes consumer protection
The CAC does not acknowledge governments that want to protect
their consumers’ health with voluntary higher standards.
In general, the Precautionary Principle is not considered in its
decision-making.
- Pesticide Residues: agricultural reality instead of consumer
safety
Maximum residue limits are calculated in a way that reflects actual
agricultural realities rather than prioritising consumer protection.
- PAN Germany suggestions for CAC reform
Codex is the most important international organisation for establishing
food quality. There is an urgent need that CAC ensures that its
standards protect consumer health and that all stakeholders, including
developing countries and public interest groups, can participate
equally in its decision-making processes. With regards to its
pesticides policies, the CAC must implement a more holistic and
sustainable approach that recognises pesticide-free food as an
ultimate goal. PAN Germany proposes several concrete measures
for CAC reform to make sure these objectives are met.
- Towards pesticide-free food
PAN Germany’s suggestions for a Codex Alimentarius reform
can be ordered for 4 € plus mailing expenses from PAN Germany.
It also can be downloaded as PDF-file from PAN Germany homepage
at
www.pan-germany.org/download.htm
30% pesticide use reduction possible in Germany
On 20 January, PAN Germany conducted at the International Green
Week in Berlin a panel discussion on “cornerstones for a strategy
towards the minimisation of pesticide use”. The title cited
a part of the German government’s coalition agreement between
the Social-Democrats and the Greens. Panellists represented different
stakeholders from government (Matthias Berninger, State Secretary
at the German Ministry for Consumer Protection, Agriculture and
Nutrition), authorities (Prof. Dr. Andreas Troge, president of the
German Environmental Protection Agency), the scientific community
(Prof. Dr. Hermann Waibel, University of Hannover), agriculture
(Dr. Harald Isermeyer, farmer and member of the board of directors
of the German Agricultural Society) and food trade (Georg Sedlmaier,
member of the board of directors of Tegut, a German retailer). PAN
Germany was represented by Dr. Rolf Altenburger from the executive
board.Carina Weber, PAN Germany executive director, opened the session
with a presentation of essential tools of such a pesticide use reduction
strategy: aims and time frames, indicators, instruments and transparency.
Mr. Berninger declared that, bearing in mind the results of German
and European food quality control, consumer protection and agricultural
policy now needed to respond to the problem of pesticide residues
in food products.
Panellists all agreed that a reduction of 30% within the conventional
agricultural system is perfectly feasible using existing knowledge
and methods. Regarding use efficiency, even a reduction of 50% would
be possible. No consensus was reached regarding the timeframe for
such a pesticide reduction. PAN Germany urges for setting this within
the current legislative period but the German Ministry of Consumer
Protection, Agriculture and Nutrition is reluctant to commit itself
to a quantitative objective or a timeframe since the discussion
process within the Ministry has only just started.
Pesticide use increasing or decreasing in Europe?
Latest European Crop Protection Association figures show a 5.3%
decrease in sales value (of formulated products) between 2000 and
2001, when the agrochemical market amounted to €5,735 million.
This represents a real decline of 6.9% after excluding currency
and inflationary factors. ECPA relates this decrease to low crop
prices, adverse weather and the effect of 91/414 review and re-registration
on sales of older products. Real term declines in 2000 and 1999
were 5.75 and 2.1%, respectively. In contrast, they report steady
growth in the market in Central and Eastern European countries,
attributed to EU aid and high disease pressure in 2001.
European agchem market declines, AGROW 416, Jan. 17th 2003
Eurostat latest figures (New Cronos, 2002) show an increase in
active ingredient sold in the EU from just under 322,000 tonnes
to almost 327,000 between 1998 and 1999. Among Member States, by
far the largest volume used was in France
(114,695), followed by Italy (50,850), UK (35,668), Germany (35,403)
and Spain (33, 614).
In Finland, volume of active ingredients sold increased by 272
tonnes in 2001, compared with the previous year, mainly due to increased
sales of glyphosate and MCPA herbicides. Tonnage of formulated products
sold increased by over 16%, to 3,680t. Sales amounted to €5,735
million, up €5 million from 2000. Interestingly, biological
pesticides usage (included in the total pesticides figures) almost
doubled in this period, rising from 7 to 16 t. Two bacterial and
three fungal-based biopesticides are used in Finland, including
products for forestry pest and disease control.
M-L Savela, E-L Hynninen and H Blomqvist, Kemia-Kemi 29 (2002)
6: 61-63.
To understand trends in pesticide use, we need much improved and
speedier pesticide use reporting at national and EU levels, based
on actual application and not just on sales figures. PAN-E is calling
for pesticide use reporting as part of the PURE directive.
“Essential Uses” for pesticides
excluded from Annex I and possible alternatives
EC DGSanco’s workshop on Essential Uses took place 5-6 November
in Denmark, to share knowledge among member states on the 49 active
ingredients excluded from Annex I of the EU pesticide authorisation
directive 91/414 but for which “essential use” derogation
was granted last year. MS will now be able to maintain authorisations
for products containing these active ingredients until July 2007.
The workshop aimed to ensure that individual MS search for existing
alternatives, chemical and non-chemical, used in other countries
and to collaborate to find new alternatives, with a focus on non-chemical
methods. MS will be asked to give a preliminary report on progress
in Dec. 2003. The list of essential uses includes 21 herbicides,
8 fungicides, 11 insecticides, 5 acaricides, 4 growth regulators
and 1 nematicide. Some of the essential uses have been notified
for one particular country and crop problem only, for example, bromacil
herbicide for use on lavender in France. Others concern several
countries and crops. The insecticide chlorfenvinphos has the most
essential use derogations- in six countries on 19 different vegetables.
The workshop report SANCO/10592/2002 with the list of essential
uses and alternatives as discussed by the participants is not yet
available on DGSanco website Food Safety: from farm to fork.
French water quality remains below par
Some 90% of surface waters and 58% of ground waters contain "significant" amounts of pesticides, the French environment
institute
(Ifen) warned recently. In its latest study based on sampling at
3,000 sites in 2000, Ifen found that just 56% of sampled abstraction
points for surface drinking water required no treatment at all to
remove pesticides, while pesticide limits permitted in drinking
water
were exceeded at 24 points. The most common pesticides were triazine
herbicides, which have now been banned by the agriculture ministry.
In river and groundwater samples, pesticides were found in high
enough concentrations "to cause disturbance to aquatic environments
and to exceed permissible thresholds for the production of drinking
water".
Belgium bans 40 pesticides
As part of their national review of actives and their impact on
aquatic life, the Belgian government decided in November to ban
40 active ingredients, for which companies gave failed to supply
additional safety data. These include 20 fungicide products (including
captan, carbendazim and chlorothalonil of PAN-E concern), 13 herbicides
and 7 acaricides.insecticides (including diazinon and endosulfan
and malathion). These active ingredients are not on the EU list
for revokal in July 2003. Sale of stocks will be allowed until July
2003 and suage until July 2004. A further active, the OP insecticide
methidathion, is to be withdrawn by 20 March 2003.
EU Accession Countries gear up to adopting
EU pesticide directives
The Czech Republic adopted a new Phytosanitary Care Act in October
2002 to align its pesticide maximum residue levels and pesticide
registration with EU rules. Lithuania’s Plant Protection Service
has increased its staff numbers to deal with pesticide registration
data assessment. Romania’s Ministry of Agriculture has set
up a national residue monitoring scheme, currently only sampling
imported fruit and vegetables, but has no system in place yet to
trace non-compliant products and enforcement will be difficult without
more human and financial resources.
Isoproturon herbicide still exceeds water
limits in UK
Following criticisms by EUREAU , the European water industry association,
in 2001 that residue levels of the phenylurea herbicide IPU in UK
water sources were among the highest in Europe, UK companies manufacturing
IPU products issued new guidelines on how to avoid water course
contamination. This guidance forms part of the agrochemical industry
Voluntary Initiative measures to reduce environmental impacts as
an alternative to a pesticides tax. Companies are now advising farmers
on factors such as weed resistance and growth stage, field drainage
and rainfall forecasts, which were not included in their 2001 IPU
stewardship scheme. IPU continues to be detected at levels above
the EU drinking water limit of 0.1µg per litre in some areas.
Benomyl excluded from Annex I
DuPont manufacturers of the fungicide benomyl, a possible human
carcinogen and potential endocrine disruptor, decided not to support
its reregistration under 91/414 review. The EC have MS 6 months
from 26 Nov. 2002 to withdraw approvals for products containing
benomyl.
Agrochemical company mergers continue and
products change hands
As a result of anti-trust regulations to prevent monopoly sales
under company mergers, several hugely expanded companies have been
obliged to sell off some of their product range. When Bayer acquired
Aventis Crop Science in April 2002, it was forced by the US Federal
Trade Commission to sell the former Aventis cotton defoliant tribufos
to Amvac Chemicals . Bayer decided to dispose of its household insecticide
business to the US consumer products company SC Johnson. Cheminova
of Denmark took over European rights to Bayer’s insecticide.acaricides
acrinathrin and phosalone, while Makteshim-Agan Industries acquired
several Bayer products, including its European azinphos-methl insecticide
business, endosulfan for Greece and Portugal markets and global
rights to the herbicides metamitron (for sugarbeet) and linuron.
EU approval of new chemical and biological agents speeds up (slightly)
The EC added 10 new pesticide active ingredients to Annex 1 of 91/414
in 2002, compared with 7 pesticides and one biopesticide in 2001.
Agrow notes that since 1994, there have been 89 applications for
new pesticide active ingredient approval and ten for biopesticides.
30% of the chemicals submitted eventually gained approval but only
10% of the biopesticides. Two more biopesticides, a bacterial agent
for disease control and a viral agent for Spodoptera caterpillar
control are under provisional approval. Ten new chemical and one
biological product were submitted for approval in 2002. A biofungicide
for wheat has been granted approval in France and another for ornamentals
and cucurbits completed its EU dossier.
EC bans arsenic in wood treatments
The Commission has adopted a new Directive banning arsenic in wood
treatments in consumer applications, to protect consumer health
and the environment. One derogation was made for a specific wood
preservative formulation for certain industrial and professional
use where there are concerns over the structural integrity and where
the risk can be properly managed, e.g. in bridges. The ban on consumer
products containing arsenic will come into force by end Jun. 2004.
STOP PRESS
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation report that on 26 Feb.
2003 the EC withdrew its proposal to include paraquat in Annex 1
of the Directive 91/414/EEC and postponed the voting till the next
meeting in April. The Commission noted that there would be no qualified
majority for their proposal on inclusion. This is positive news
for those calling for an EU-wide paraquat ban.
The PAN Europe Newsletter is produced by Stephanie Williamson,
PAN-E Coordinator, Contributions are welcome from PAN Europe network members.
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