Tuesday, 13th January 2009
UK faces pesticides fight in Brussels
MEPs in the European Parliament in Strasbourg voted overwhelmingly today to support new pesticides legislation.
Despite a concerted effort by UK Conservatives, with some support from Irish and Hungarian MEPs, the new law will ban a large number of commonly used pesticides and reducing yields of a number of staple foods including carrots, cereals, potatoes, onions and parsnips, whilst pushing up prices for consumers.
Speaking following the vote Scottish Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson said:
"I am dismayed at the way this vote has been stitched up by a coalition of big member states and anti-farmer interests. There is no doubt that we need high levels of protection against dangerous pesticides. This haphazard approach voted through by parliament, without any recourse to an impact assessment, could cause great damage to Scottish agriculture.
"I am appalled that the proposals will ban substances which are alleged to be endocrine disrupters in humans, without any scientific evidence to back this up, particularly at the current levels of usage.
He added:
“This ban will have no meaningful benefit to consumers, but by outlawing fungicides such as triazoles, could have a major impact on our ability in the UK to grow milling wheat and barley. Farmers could face yield losses of up to 20% which will render cereal growing uneconomic.
"The one tiny saving grace is that the UK government may still be able to stop the proposals in their tracks if they put up a strong last-ditch fight in the Council of Farm Ministers where the proposal has to be ratified. If they fail, the ban will take effect from 2014, with a further derogation until 2021 to give the agricultural sector time to find suitable replacements for the banned pesticides."
