IFA Delegation Meets DG Sante on Plant Protection for Tillage Sector

IFA Grain Chair Kieran McEvoy has led a delegation from IFA that met with Dr Klaus Berend, Deputy Director General with responsibility for the Food Safety, Sustainability and Innovation Directorates in DG Sante in Brussels.

“Tillage farmers are increasingly concerned about the loss of plant protection products from the European market. The recent decision not to re-authorise the key cereal herbicide flufenacet is yet another solution removed from the tool-box for farmers. We wanted to highlight to DG Sante the practical and economic consequences for farmers,” said Kieran McEvoy. 

“Over 78 active ingredients have been lost since 2019 with virtually no replacement products coming on to the market. Unfortunately, this looks set to grow further as authorisation timelines of the active ingredients defined as ‘candidates for substitution’ under EU legislation draw nearer,” he said.

The recently published EU Vision for Agriculture document references the need for more careful consideration around the removal of active substances where alternatives do not exist.

“It is clear that European policy makers believe that biopesticides and solutions such as mechanical in-crop weeding are viable alternatives to conventional plant products. We articulated to DG Sante that farmers are willing to move towards the use of biopesticides provided they are direct replacements for conventional plant protection products. For cereal production in Ireland, this is not the case as it stands,” he said. 

“We strongly emphasised to Klaus Berend and his officials the negative impact that continued removal of plant protection products will have on the viability and competitiveness of Irish and European crop production,” the chair concluded.