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EU dispute restrictions over certain active ingredients
May. 12, 2008
The European Parliament's Environment Committee has made another bid to impose tougher restrictions on the levels of certain pesticide active ingredients in water. The move comes in preparation for the Parliament's second reading on the European Commission's proposals to set risk-based environmental quality standards for certain pesticides in water. Similar amendments put forward by the Parliament at its first reading were subsequently rejected by the Commission and EU Environment Ministers.
The Commission's proposals list "priority substances", which would be subject to maximum concentration levels in water. These substances include the herbicides, alachlor, atrazine, diuron, Isoproturon, simazine and trifluralin, and the insecticides, chlorfenvinphos and chlorpyrifos. The water quality targets must be achieved by 2015.
In addition, a further list of "priority hazardous substances" would be subject to stronger measures to phase them out or stop releases to water. The phase-out process would be completed by 2025. Such substances include the organochlorine insecticides, HCH (including lindane) and endosulfan, and the fungicide, pentachlorobenzene.
The Environment Committee report adopted in May seeks to reinstate many of the Parliament's initial amendments to strengthen these measures. The MEPs want alachlor, atrazine, diuron, simazine and trifluralin to be reclassified as priority hazardous substances. All five are already facing phase-out in the EU because they have failed to gain re-registration in the EU review of existing ais.
Another amendment calls for the list of priority substances to be extended to include a further seven ais: the herbicides, Bentazone, glyphosate and mecoprop; the fungicides, clotrimazole and quinoyfen; the acaricide, dicofol; and the insect repellent, dibutylphthalate. It includes the stipulation that the Commission should consider whether these additional ais should be classified as priority hazardous substances.
In an agreed revision of the proposals earlier this year by the Commission and the EU Ministers, the Commission stated that it did not accept the Parliament's introduction of additional substances or changes to the classification of existing substances as it believed "this is not in line with the scope of the proposal and the provisions of Community law". The Parliament's second reading is due in June. If the issue cannot be resolved among MEPs, Ministers and the Commission, it will go to conciliation negotiations, where all three parties would have to reach a compromise.
Source: Agrow
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