Mutual authorisation of plant protection products desired
Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese fruit growers’ interest groups are working towards a zonal authorisation of crop protection products. This means that if a product is authorised in one of the four countries, it automatically also gets an authorisation in the other three countries. It is one of the outcomes from a discussion that fruit growers’ organisations from the four countries had in early June.
The four countries are faced by common challenges: shortage of crop protection products, lack of water, consequences of climate change and little interest in the case of young people to take over their parents’ farms. The lack of sufficient crop protection products and the strict regulations concerning their application is – and then especially in France – the biggest problem, however. That is why the organisations want to prioritise this point. The organisations also want to take a closer look at the EFSA procedure, the European authority for food safety. They are of the opinion that if an active ingredient is withdrawn, a study should also be carried out into its economic impact, before a possible withdrawal takes place. At the moment, the agency only assesses the health and environmental aspects.
