Farmers face unprecedented challenges: rising climate pressures, emerging pests, and a shrinking toolbox to protect their crops. The lack of efficient and accessible solutions is causing yields in some sectors to stagnate or worse, decline. Without urgent action, Europe’s food security and farmers’ livelihoods are at risk.
The European Commission has unveiled its long-awaited Food and Feed Safety Omnibus Simplification Package. We appreciate the commitment to faster approval of biocontrol solutions, streamlining their administration, and reducing their costs. This is an important step forward in diversifying the tools available to farmers.
However, conventional plant protection products continue to play a vital role as trusted and effective part of Integrated Pest Management, helping farmers prevent significant yield losses, maintain high production standards, and stay competitive. Although the current proposal puts forward the indefinite authorisation for most active substances, which is an important element, it lags behind in terms of streamlining authorisation procedures, improving mutual recognition and harmonisation, guaranteeing decisions based on science and proportionality or ensuring flexibility and responsiveness. Additionally, when it comes to enabling innovation and new technologies, despite some steps forward, it lacks in proposing an immediate EU wide definition of agricultural drone and their use in plant protection spraying.
The Commission’s decision to eliminate the mandatory ten-year renewal process for feed additives, which imposed unnecessary administrative burden without enhancing product safety or efficacy is a positive step. In addition, permitting digital labelling for certain non-safety related information is welcome.
This Thursday, 10,000 farmers from over 40 national organisations will converge from across 27 Member States to Brussels in a historic march to highlight the depth of the crisis confronting the sector. The farming community needs solutions now to be competitive and to continue to ensure food security for the 450 million Europeans!
Fonte: Copa Cogeca
