WRITTEN QUESTION E-2881/98

by Panayotis Lambrias (PPE) to the Commission

(28 September 1998)

Subject: Need to establish a legal framework for integrated plant protection methods

A number of ecological and organic farming organisations have complained of the lack of a Community legal framework for integrated plant protection methods, a complaint upheld by the Greek Ministry of Agriculture.

What steps will the Commission take to remedy this shortcoming, given its harmful consequences for the health of greenhouse workers and of consumers?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(19 November 1998)

The Commission is aware of the problems mentioned by the Honourable Member. The second workshop on a framework for a sustainable use of plant protection in the Union, organised in Brussels 12-14 May 1998 by the Commission and the Dutch ministry of environment, made specific recommendations for integrated plant protection methods, which are better known as "integrated pest management (IPM)" or "integrated control". In particular, the workshop identified the need to have better definitions for this concept, as well as integrated crop management (or integrated farming).

The Commission reminds the Honourable Member of Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market(1), which provides according to Article 2.13 "integrated control is the rational application of a combination of biological, biotechnological, chemical, cultural or plant-breeding measures whereby the use of chemical plant protection products is limited to the strict minimum necessary to maintain the pest population at levels below those causing economically unacceptable damage or loss".

Since these integrated control methods are broadly acknowledged as environmentally-friendly agricultural practices, the Community gives financial support for a significant number of such initiatives, notably through the agri-environmental measures of the common agricultural policy, by Council Regulation (EEC) 2078/92 of 30 June 1992 on agricultural production methods compatible with the requirements of the protection of the environment and the maintenance of the countryside(2).

The legal framework for IPM does not yet exist at Community level but several Member States have already defined legal provisions for this production method. The linkages with the internal market and the quality policy must also be considered. The Commission is currently preparing a communication on the sustainable use of plant protection products which will take this issue into account.

It is broadly recognized -notably in the Organisation for economic co-operation and development (OECD) forum on pesticides(3)- that IPM or integrated control can contribute to pesticide risk reduction and more generally is a component of a sustainable agriculture. Concerning the health of greenhouse workers and of consumers, the Honourable Member may know that the Community legislation on plant protection products provides for a consistent framework aiming at a high level of protection.

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.

(2) OJ L 215, 31.7.1992.

(3) OECD Pesticide risk reduction workshop, Uppsala, Sweden 1995 - OECD Food and agriculture organisation (FAO) Workshop on integrated pest management and pesticide risk reduction, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1998.