Press releases
Yesterday European Commission published a roadmap for European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) on agricultural productivity and sustainability under the slogan 'achieving more from less'.
The 2009 EU report on pesticide residues, published today by EFSA, shows food on the European market is still heavily contaminated with cocktails of pesticides.
The documents show France is the main user of Metam, pumping 6,5 Million kg. of Metam in the soil, while Spain, Portugal, Greece and the Netherlands are also heavy users. UK and Italy failed to report the amount used.
The Common Agricultural Policy reform proposal is a step in the right direction but far too light a green to make the needed change to reduce external input dependency and to ensure long term food security.
Leaked documents of the European Commission’s plans to reform the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reveal that measures to protect the environment and public health have been severely watered down.
European food watchdog EFSA proposes to substitute the actual testing of chemicals with a fixed exposure figure. An adult can – according to EFSA – for most chemicals safely eat 90 microgrammes (µg) of a single chemical every day for his or her entire life, called the TTC (Threshold of Toxicological Concern).
Today the Standing Committee on Pesticides will decide on the proposal of EU health and consumer protection division DG SANCO for new pesticide safety testing (‘data requirements’).
14 JUNE, NEW REVOLUTIONARY REGULATION ENTERS IN FORCE ………but will Europe abandon its bad old habits?
Today, the new pesticide Regulation 1007/2009 enters in force. This marks the beginning of the new revolutionary system in which ‘cut-off’ criteria will be used in pesticide authorisation for the very first time. Up to now EU Commission used traditional risk assessment and was not able to ban a pesticide if industry resisted.
Germany and the UK have produced a joint position paper on how the criteria for endocrine disrupting pesticides need to be developed.
Time has come to round up glyphosate! The European Commission has delayed a planned re-assessment of glyphosate, a potentially harmful chemical used as a herbicide, to allow chemical companies a three-year extension to complete applications.
