A coalition of public health, environmental, and consumer organisations is sounding the alarm in an open letter to the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU. The negotiations on the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus proposal are being pushed through at speed, with little scrutiny, no democratic debate, and insufficient expert input. Our warning comes ahead of tomorrow’s Antici Group meeting, where the Presidency’s proposal to grant unlimited national authorisations not only to pesticide active substances but also to pesticide products will be discussed.
“It is deeply worrying that the Council is moving towards extending unlimited authorisations for pesticide active substances to the products containing them, further weakening essential safety checks. Such far-reaching reforms to EU pesticide legislation must not be rushed through, especially without proper scrutiny and democratic debate,” said Salomé Roynel, Policy Officer at PAN Europe.
The organisations warn that credible alternative solutions, including those identified by EFSA, such as increased resources and improved dossier handling to address assessment backlogs, have not been properly considered by the Council.[1] Instead, negotiations are being rushed without a proper assessment of the options that would ensure the maintenance of a high level of protection, as required by EU law on pesticides. This is especially worrying since a first scientific scrutiny of the proposal by scientists from Wageningen and Leiden University, commissioned by the Dutch parliament, concludes that there are risks for health and environment and that the proposal could lead to more bureaucracy rather than less. [2]
The open letter comes as the Council adopted its position yesterday on parts of the Omnibus proposal, including provisions related to pesticide-spraying drones. The adopted text encourages the deployment of spraying drones before a full EU-harmonised risk assessment framework is in place, despite unresolved concerns over spray drift and off-target exposure. [3]
“The direction is clear: the Council is fast-tracking the use of pesticide-spraying drones at all costs, even before the basic EU risk assessment framework is in place,” added Salomé Roynel.
The signatories call on the Cyprus Presidency and Member States to allow adequate time for democratic deliberation, ensure meaningful involvement of independent scientific experts and civil society, and properly examine alternative solutions, including those proposed by EFSA, before pursuing reforms that would weaken EU protection from pesticides.
Read more:
- Letter: Need for proper scrutiny and expert deliberation on the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus Proposal
- Background on the Omnibus proposal, analysis, legal opinion, campaign: For Health, Bees and Farmers | PAN Europe
Contact: Salomé Roynel, Policy Officer, salome [at] pan-europe.info, +32 (0) 2 318 62 55
Notes:
[1] Omnibus: EFSA proposes safer and faster alternative to unlimited pesticide approvals
[2] Scientific assessment slams food and feed safety omnibus proposal
[3] Council agrees position to simplify and strengthen food and feed safety requirements - Consilium
