Trust in the authorisation of Plant Protection Products (PPP) in the EU has been seriously undermined by recent scandals and particularly by the renewal of the approval of Glyphosate. That is why Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament took the lead to ensure better legislation and enforcement.
Following the findings of the special committee on the Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides (PEST), S&D MEP, Pavel Poc, drafted a report with strong recommendations that was backed by the European Parliament today.
Given the weak implementation of existing measures aimed at protecting health and the environment, Poc proposes more transparency in the EU risk assessment model but also when it comes to the authorisation by member states’ competent authorities.
“We have a complex regulatory system to harmonise and monitor the placing of plant protection products on the EU internal market and there is a citizens’ demand to make sure it works properly. Proper implementation of the existing law requires more efforts on both EU and national level. There are negative impacts on public health and the environment caused by misuse of the emergency authorisation procedure, evidenced by an increased number of derogations, frequent use of the confirmatory data procedure, incomplete harmonisation of data requirements and methodologies used in some scientific fields for the evaluation of substances against the cut-off criteria,” Pavel Poc said.
“We welcome the recent proposal of the European Commission on transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment model covering among others PPPs, but it is not enough. Effective implementation cannot be achieved without better harmonisation with EU policies and without increased incentives to promote alternative low-risk solutions. Evidence also shows that better controls at national level are needed,” he added.
