PAN Europe calls for pesticide reduction

Seventy participants from European environmental  and consumer groups, unions and agricultural organisations met in Bonn, Germany, for the annual Pesticides Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) Conference from 6-8 October. Under the title ‘Pesticide Use Reduction – Opportunities for Action’, they discussed the future European policy on pesticides. Heike Schmitt reports on the main achievements of the meeting.

Although the European Commission proposed a substantial reduction in the use of pesticides under the Fifth Environmental Action Programme (FEAP) covering 1992-2000, no concrete steps have yet been taken towards this goal. The Commission has begun a preliminary activity by preparing a Commission Communication on the ‘sustainable use’ of pesticides. This move comes very late on in the debate. 
    At the end of this year, the time frame of the FEAP and its clear targets will have passed. The follow-up programme is only just under way. There are signs that the Sixth Programme will be much weaker than its predecessor – not only concerning pesticides. If the target of pesticide use reduction is not laid down in the Sixth Programme, it may also weaken the Commission Communication.
    PAN Europe and its partners took the opportunity of the conference to address the European Union Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallström, in an open letter, calling for the targets of the FEAP to be met. In their position paper, the public interest organisations are asking for a Framework Directive, regulating the establishment of pesticide use reduction programmes in the Member States. The position paper has already been discussed with officials at the Environment Directorate. 
    The time is ripe for European activity: countries or regions which have, or aim to have pesticide use reduction programmes now include France and Flanders, as well as Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands and Finland. The conference included presentations on the strategies of Denmark, the Netherlands and Flanders. It became clear that the promotion of organic agriculture and the certification of growers will be important policy tools for achieving pesticide reduction.
    The conference discussed agricultural standards set by the industry initiative, EUREP, an association of major European supermarkets, which defines ‘good agricultural practice’ and aims for the certification of its suppliers. But participants criticised the EUREP measures because they adopt generalised criteria for integrated pest management practices.
    The conference also examined the health and environmental effects of pesticides. Participants agreed to call for a phase-out of pesticides which are endocrine disrupting, carcinogenic, bioaccumulating or persistent. They focused particularly on pesticides that are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can produce adverse effects by interfering in some way with the body’s hormones, or chemical messengers. As yet, there are still many aspects of these substances that we do not understand. Participants at the conference heard that regulators cannot even agree on what is, and what is not, an EDC pesticide (see table). From lists cited there is no single pesticide that all the authorities can agree on as an EDC. The nearest they come to it is with DDT.
    Public interest groups, researchers and government officials from 17 countries took the opportunity to present their activities and discuss future joint initiatives. As a framework for future work, PAN Europe Partners Platform has been adopted, listing policy areas where action is needed to reduce the use and the risks of pesticides. Twenty-six organisations have already become PAN Europe partners. With this support, PAN Europe will now continue to lobby for pesticide use reduction at the European level.

Heike Schmitt is Co-ordinator of PAN Europe, Nernstweg 32, 22765, Hamburg, Germany, Tel: +49 40 399 91022, pan-germany@t-online.de

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.50, December 2000, p5]

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No.50, December 2000, p5]