I attached below some of the information concerning pesticides packages regulation by the European Community (EC) for our information. This information may also good for traders who use to trade with the European Union (EU) business person counter-part for EU market. The information are as below:
“The European Commission introduced its proposal for a pesticides package in July 2006 aimed at protecting human health and the environment from dangerous or excessive pesticide use in agriculture production. The package includes a new Regulation to tighten the environmental and health criteria on the usage of pesticides before they are allowed into the EU market and a Directive laying down common objectives and requirements for sustainable use of pesticides.
On 13 January 2009, the European Parliament has voted in favour of the new EU pesticides legislation. The final legislation is now expected to be formally adopted by the Council of the European Union soon. It will then enter into force later in 2009.
Once adopted, a positive list of approved chemical substances of pesticides will be drawn up at EU level. The legislation will then enable EU member states to license pesticides at national level on the basis of the list or through mutual recognition of authorised products within a specified geographical zone. The EU is to be divided into three zones - north, centre and south - with compulsory mutual recognition within each zone as the basic rule.
The pesticides package will also ban 22 highly toxic chemicals that can trigger cancer or cause neural, hormonal or genetic damage. These groups of chemicals must be replaced by safer alternatives, but their use is permitted for a limited period of five years if it can be proven that they are essential for crop survival.
The draft Regulation is planned to supercede existing EU law gradually. Pesticides that can be placed on the EU market under current legislation will remain available until their existing authorisation expires, to prevent any large-scale withdrawal of products from the EU market.
Similarly, EU member states must implement the Directive on sustainable use of pesticides by early 2011.
Malaysia’s export of agricultural products to the European market will be subjected to this new rule. If the new legislation were to be implemented, Malaysia has to be more stringent on the use of pesticides in its agricultural production, to ensure that no banned chemicals are used and that the detectable level of pesticide residues must not be beyond the general default maximum residue level (MRL) of 0.01 mg/kg. It may also affect other processed products where the raw materials are sourced from the farms.
Together with the other EU legislation such as REACH, there is concern among the industry and third countries that the new legislation highlights the EU increasing shift away from scientific risk-based assessment of chemicals substances to hazard-based criteria for granting market authorisations.”
