Pesticide use in Europe - part one Pesticides sales in Europe are increasing (see right). Levels of usage vary between countries (below).     These profiles are  part of an on-going series in Pesticides News that will cover all of Europe.
Sources: (above right) Volumes of pesticide active ingredients sold in Europe, European Crop Protection Association, Annual Report 1996-97. (above) Sales of pesticide active ingredients in EU states, Possibilities for Future EU Environmental Policy on Plant Protection Products, Oppenheimer, Wolf & Donnelly, Belgium, 1997.

Norway

Due to the high latitude and a relatively short growing season in Norway, the number of pests is limited compared with middle and southern Europe. However, some weed species are more dominant due to a general wet and cold climate.
    In 1985, 1,529 tonnes of pesticide active ingredients were sold. This was reduced to an average of 803 tonnes between 1991 and 1996. In 1996, total sales were 706 tonnes, of which 93 tonnes were used mostly for amateur gardening. This year, 117 different active ingredients and 195 different compounds were available in Norway. The dominant group of pesticides has always been herbicides. In 1996, 71% of the total amount was herbicides, 20% fungicides, 2% insecticides and 7% miscellaneous (such as growth regulators). These annual statistics are based on sales from companies importing pesticides to Norway, and are the only tool for monitoring the national pesticide use. There is no production of synthetic pesticides in Norway.

Registration
The approval of pesticides in Norway is authorised by the Norwegian Agricultural Inspection Service, part of the Ministry of Agriculture. The approval of a pesticide is valid for a period of five years.

Key pesticides used
To increase the knowledge of the use of pesticide in different crops, the Norwegian Crop Research Institute, Plant Protection Centre, has interviewed farmers about their pesticide use within a single field season. For example, on average strawberry growers make 10 applications per season, and for potato and onions, the figure is six.

Pesticide  reduction measures
The reasons for the drop in use during the last decade are not completely clear. New low dosage compounds may be part of the answer. However, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a five year action plan for the reduction of pesticide use in 1990. This plan was set up without a fixed target for the reduction. The plan included testing of application equipment, a research programme on monitoring, forecasting and thresholds of pests and more intensive monitoring of pesticide residues in soil and water. After 1 July 1997, all users of pesticides must be certified to buy pesticides for use in agriculture.

Banned pesticides
In 1998 the Agricultural Inspection Service will review all OP-compounds used in Norway. The Plant Protection Centre will report on the agronomical consequences due to restricted use in different crops, or on phasing out these chemicals. Endosulfan, which for many years had a restricted use, was completely banned in 1997 due to high toxicity and persistence. Fungicides which recently have been banned, or will be phased out, are vinclozolin and mancozeb. Vinclozolin was withdrawn in 1997 due to high reproductive toxicity. Mancozeb will be phased out in year 2000. Several compounds containing MCPA will have their uses restricted or will be banned. MCPA has been showed to be present in streams in agricultural areas in Norway. Metribuzin is another problem herbicide found in water samples.

Residue analysis
Today, about 3 million Norwegian Krone (NOK) (US $400,000) is spent to control pesticide residues in food such as vegetables, fruits, cereals, both Norwegian and imported. In 1996, 3,116 samples were analysed. Forty-seven samples contained residues above maximum limits, of those eight were from Norwegian products. The 1997 budget for analysing was about 1.3 million NOK (US$170,000). In several areas residues have been found in streams, however, only at low concentrations. Drinking water sources, including a few deeper ground water reservoirs, have been reported contaminated.

Information supplied by Trond Hofsvang of the Norwegian Crop Research Institute.

Italy

There are 6,000 pesticide products currently authorised in Italy and each of them contains one or more of the 400 authorised active ingredients.
    According to data from pesticide industry associations, Italy has the third highest level of pesticide consumption in Western Europe with 13.4% of total purchases, after Germany (15.4%) and France (32.9%). When measured by volume, Italy uses the second largest amount in Europe after France.
    The overall amount of pesticides used in agriculture varies between 160,000 and 190,000 tonnes per year (see table).

The average consumption of pesticides per hectare of treated area (including permanent arable land, forestry and foraging areas) was 12.5 kg/ha in 1994. In 1991, the OECD calculated 7.66 kg/hectare for Italian agricultural land as a whole.
    Some of the most commonly used pesticides in Italy are methyl bromide, mancozeb, ziram, thiram and chlorpyrifos.
    Italian agricultural policy aims to decrease the risks of pesticides by giving incentives for organic farming and integrated pest management (IPM). The permanent monitoring of pesticide residues in foodstuffs and drinking water contribute to maintaining public awareness of the pesticide problem.
    Between 1987 and 1992, the Ministry of Agriculture, under a National Plan of Action on Integrated Plant Protection, financed regional programmes for the dissemination of IPM techniques amongst farmers and technical support services in order to reduce the use of pesticides. However, now the National Plan is over, only some regions have continued to use the techniques asking farmers to respect 'production discipline'.
    The measures taken on a national level for a decrease in use of pesticides in agriculture are no longer backed up by a firm undertaking and a specific national strategy. The efforts taken in the past to train the IPM technicians, including through support for complex research and experimentation, risk being wasted.
    The economic incentives set up to encourage the use of environmentally friendly agricultural practices, such as IPM, are now derived only from the application of EEC Regulation 2078/92. The operational application of the Community Regulation falls substantially to regional government.
    One positive aspect of Italian legislation is that, unlike many European countries, the registration of pesticides falls within the remit of the Ministry of Health, rather than Agriculture. The authorisation of products for commercialisation is therefore granted paying special attention to health aspects. The Ministry of Health promotes and co-ordinates the monitoring and control of pesticide residues in foodstuffs.

Information supplied by Carlo Zaghi of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture.

Sweden

Sweden has relatively less intensive agriculture than other European countries. Arable land is only about 2.9 million ha, mostly confined to the southern fertile plains. Humid and cold weather means weeds tend to be more of a problem than insects or fungal diseases. Although Sweden is not a big pesticide market, it has developed a range of pesticide reduction measures that could have implications for other countries in Europe.

Key pesticides used
The top five pesticides by sales in 1996 were: glyphosate, MCPA, metamitron, isoproturon, and mecoprop. Since 1992 sales of glyphosate have nearly doubled from 223 to 416 tonnes. Sales of total pesticides mostly include herbicides (see table 2).

Measures for pesticide use reduction
The Swedes have focused resources on ways to reduce pesticide use, in terms of both health of operators and the environment. In 1986, Sweden adopted a programme to reduce these risks for pesticides used in agriculture. Initially the programme involved reducing the overall volume of pesticides used. Between 1986 and 1990, there was a 50% reduction in use. A further 50% reduction planned between 1991 and 1996 aimed for an overall decrease of 75%, although in fact 'only' 64% was achieved. Usage levels are however flattening out and there are unlikely to be further volume reductions.

Measures to reduce pesticide risk and dependency include:

• mandatory training

• regional plant protection centres promoting integrated pest management (IPM)

• advisory services for reduced use

• grants for spray machine maintenance 

• direct pesticide taxes

The risk reduction programme achieved a measure of success in reducing the overall amount (weight) of pesticides applied. There has been justified criticism however that reduced use does not necessarily mean there is reduced risk. A significant part of the reduction of pesticide use in Sweden between 1986 and 1996 can be accounted for through changes from high dose to low dose products. 
    The National Chemicals Inspectorate (KEMI) has recently developed national pesticide risk indicators in an attempt to make a retrospective assessment of risk. Their primary purpose is to measure the progress of two stages of the risk reduction programme that started in 1986. The indicators will also help regulators set goals for succeeding stages of the programme, that is set to continue until the year 2001.
    In their present form, the indicators can give a semi-quantitative estimate of the 'risk reduction achieved', since they are based on hazard combined with the quantities used. Researchers at KEMI have given preference to the development of an effective policy tool aiming at simplicity, rather than a complex tool which is scientifically sound in all respects.

Pesticides restrictions
Sweden has a very strict pesticide regulatory regime. Since 1986, 36 pesticide active ingredients have been banned for health or environmental reasons (see below).

Residue analysis
The Swedish monitoring programme for pesticide residue analysis is run by the National Food Administration. In 1995, 5,667 samples of fruit, vegetables, juices, cereals cereal products and vegetable oils were analysed. Pesticide residues were found in about 33% of samples and 3% of the total exceeded Sweden's MRLs. A total of 44 lots (290 tonnes) were rejected or prohibited from being sold. Domestically produced fruit and vegetables contain fewer residues than imported produce.

Information supplied by Anders Emmerman of the Swedish Board of Agriculture and Peter Bergkvist of KEMI.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 39, March 1998, pages 18-19]