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Delegations will find attached a note from Commissioner Kyprianou regarding AOB Item 10 (b) for
the Agriculture/Fisheries Council on 11/12 June 2007.
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WICK,11J2007 RITTEN NFORMATION FROM OMMISSIONER YPRIANOU UNE
PP LANT PROTECTION RODUCTS The Commission welcomes the progress made under the German Presidency on the proposal for a new Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the placing on the market of plant protection products.
Discussions have shown that Member States are broadly content with the proposal and we can look forward to further progress under the Portuguese Presidency.
The aim of the proposed Regulation is to simplify, clarify and upgrade the EU rules on plant protection products. The main priority is to ensure the highest possible level of protection for human and animal health and the environment. On these aspects, the Commission cannot accept any dilution of standards.
The following provisions remain of utmost importance to the Commission:
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-Strict approval criteria for active substances;
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-The central role of the European Food Safety Authority in the evaluation process for active
substances, thus clearly separating risk assessment and risk management, in line with internationally agreed principles;
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-The need for farmers to keep records of the plant protection products they use and to make
such records available on request to neighbours and the drinking water industry;
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-Before using certain plant protection products, farmers should inform neighbours in order to
allow them to take appropriate measures to reduce possible exposure. This supplements the already strict authorisation criteria;
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-Member State authorities would have to tighten controls and the Commission would have a
role in auditing Member States' controls.
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-Substitution of more hazardous plant protection products with viable safer alternatives.
The proposed legislation is also consistent with the EU's core agenda of boosting competitiveness.
It aims to strengthen the internal market for plant protection products. The proposed system of obligatory mutual recognition by Member States belonging to the same zone would create a more favourable market situation for producers and farmers.
Voluntary mutual recognition outside the zone could be a further improvement, but the implications need to be examined further.
The current system of national provisional authorisations is not compatible with the Regulation on setting maximum residue levels for pesticides. In addition, retaining this system would lead to continued duplication of work in some Member States and a lack of harmonisation of the internal market. We cannot have a fragmented market in plant protection products and a single market for treated crops.
The proposed Regulation is very much in line with the overall Commission strategy on pesticides, and will complement the proposal for a Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides and the proposal for a Regulation concerning statistics on plant protection products, which are also currently under discussion in the Council.
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