Turf Industry bodies are continuing to call on amenity horticulture professionals affected by the proposed EU legislation on pesticides to ask their MEPs to reject the proposals at the European Parliament plenary vote which takes place tomorrow - Tuesday 13 January 2009.
In brief, the latest news on the revised pesticide legislation being developed in Europe, relevant to amenity sports turf turf is that the Agricultural and Sports Turf Industries may lose the active ingredients 2,4-D and potentially MCPA, MCPB and Mecoprop which will greatly reduce our options for selective weed control in sports turf and agricultural grass land. Added to this list is Chlorpyrifos, the active ingredient used for the control of Leatherjackets and Wireworm.
On Monday 12 January 2009, the European Parliament will debate the proposals for a Regulation on the Placing on the Market of Plant Protection Products and the Sustainable Use of Pesticides directive.
PESTICIDES & PLANT PROTECTION
Monday afternoon's first debate will be on two proposals for legislation on pesticides. The first is a Regulation on procedures for approving new pesticides; the second is a Directive on the day-to-day use of pesticides.
Among the main points of the Regulation:
Phasing out of the most dangerous pesticides over a ten-year period, including those which are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction;
If needed to combat a serious danger to plant health, substances can be approved for up to five years (with five-year renewals);
Simpler and quicker approval of pesticides that meet the safety criteria;
Pesticides on the market under current legislation will remain available until their existing authorisation expires, i.e. one approved in 2006 can be sold until 2016.
The way pesticides are used in every day life is not yet covered by EU law. The new directive would:
Mean all EU governments must adopt National Action Plans for pesticide use;
Ban aerial crop-spraying, with exceptions subject to approval by the authorities;
Minimise or prohibit use of pesticides in parks, public gardens, sports grounds.
For more information on the detailed content of the two pesticide proposals, see the item in the Briefing on the European Parliament website
So now it is down to the MEPs sitting in the plenary session on Tuesday 13th January 2009 to see sense and vote out the legislation, which - while subject to some improvements thanks to lobbying by the industry and supportive EU politicians - continues to threaten the viability of many crops, reports Horticulture Week Magazine.
Keep your fingers crossed that sense prevails on the day. I will be crossing my legs too on account of owning three Self Propelled 'Spraying Mantis' sprayers and a business involved in Contract Pesticide Spraying Services....
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