An Irish member of the European Parliament has accused the European Commission of double standards for “banning the use of vital plant protection products within its borders while ignoring their use in food imported from third countries”.
Mairead McGuinness, a former agricultural journalist, represents the Ireland East constituency, which includes much of the Irish Republic’s horticultural industry. Reacting to the last week’s vote by the European parliament on plant protection products, she said: “If these products are regarded as inappropriate for use in the EU, then we should be fighting for their use to be discontinued globally.
“Otherwise, we are limiting the tools available to Irish and EU farmers and placing them at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to food production. This is unacceptable and lacks credibility.”
McGuinness said producers in the EU found it difficult to understand why they were being subjected to regulations that did not apply to food imports. “Consumers should be angry over what amounts to a double standard. This must be taken up by the EU at World Trade talks level.”
She added: “In industrial goods, manufacturing and textiles, the EU has set high standards of production, environmental and worker protection. But in many cases these industries leave the EU for countries that set the bar much lower and we then import their goods oblivious of how they are produced. We are in danger of doing the same when it comes to food production.”
The Irish Farmers’Association has opposed the new measures and McGuinness acknowledged they were causing concern to growers. However, she said that concern should be tempered by the fact that the ban on certain substances will not be implemented immediately and that if alternatives are not available, derogation will be allowed for a period. She also welcomed the proposal to establish a research fund to develop products for the vegetable and fruit sectors, but was sharply critical of the fact that the scientific basis for the legislation would not be available until after its implementation.
The regulations provoked a mixed reaction from the Animal and Plant Health Association (APHA), representing manufacturers and distributors of plant protection products in Ireland. Its director, Brendan Barnes, described the measures adopted as “a substantial improvement on earlier proposals”
He said that while “a number of extreme measures”, which would have threatened the viability of Irish horticulture, had been removed, the impact of the legislation was still “a cause of great concern”. He welcomed the proposed five-year derogation in the case of a serious threat to plant health, but claimed the most disappointing aspect of the EU decision was the lack of a detailed impact assessment of the new measures.
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