Person spraying pesticides.

EU Parliament Report Demands Reform of Approval Procedure for Toxic Pesticides in Europe

The European pesticide regulation and its implementation need to be improved, says a draft report from a committee of the European Parliament, published Thursday. The report calls for more transparency, stating that the public must have access to the full studies that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) relies upon to form its opinions.

September 22, 2018 | Source: Sustainable Pulse | by

The European pesticide regulation and its implementation need to be improved, says a draft report from a committee of the European Parliament, published Thursday. The report calls for more transparency, stating that the public must have access to the full studies that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) relies upon to form its opinions. It also emphasises that studies from the scientific peer-reviewed open literature should be given the same weight as industry studies.

The Special Committee of the European Parliament, called the PEST Committee, was set up to investigate the European Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides (PEST Committee) in the wake of the controversy over the EU’s decision to re-authorise glyphosate for five years.

The PEST Committee’s draft report points out the shortfalls of the procedure and presents recommendations. The report comes at the end of five months of discussions and parliamentary hearings.