EU 'failing agriculture' with crop protection regulation - NFU

EU 'failing agriculture' with crop protection regulation - NFU

THE NFU has accused EU institutions of ‘failing agriculture’ through its regulatory approach to issues neonicotinoid seed treatments and genetically modified crops.

Speaking in Brussels of Friday, NFU crops board vice-chairman Mike Hambly told European Commission officials, member state experts and industry stakeholders that EU regulation in these areas was threatening to reduce yields and affect the quality of EU crop production.

He warned this could lead to an increased reliance on imports from areas of the world where standards of production cannot be guaranteed.

The European Commission pushed through suspension of three neonicotinoid seed treatments on flowering crops earlier this year. Mr Hambly also highlighted the decision of biotech giant Monsanto to move away from developing biotechnology in crops in the EU in the face of opposition to the technology.

He said denying farmers key crop protection products could have the unwanted side effect of increasing the risk of mycotoxins in crops – an issue the Commission is also trying to address.

“Where technology is denied to European farmers, waste will increase because we cannot protect our crops, yields will fall and we won’t be able to compete with imports,” he said.

“The impact will be that Europe will have less influence on how its food is produced and the EU’s already substantial net imports will grow.”

He cited a recent German study estimating the EU net imports of food would take an area the size of the entire territory of Germany to produce.

Mr Hambly said the Commission was putting science first in developing new regulation on mycotoxins, particularly the presence of T-2 and HT-2 mycotoxins in food and feed.

 “Investments in understanding and controlling mycotoxins are being made through improved understanding of fusarium and other plant diseases, but not as fast as crop protection products are being removed by regulators.

“We remain concerned that with restricted plant genetics and the loss of active ingredients against disease, control of mycotoxins will be compromised and then the threat of regulation could return.”

He said farmers have an ‘excellent record’ of managing the risk of crop contaminants and keeping them out of the supply chain.

But he said the Commission was ‘not making our lives any easier when tools in use elsewhere are denied to us here’. FarmersGuardian