Agri-chemical manufacturers are putting pressure on the EU to prevent a ban of two disputed pesticides that damage the brain of fetuses and young children – in what might be a last attempt before the products’ approval expires in [January 2020].
The two pesticides in question are chlorpyrifos and chlorpyrifos-methyl, which some nine member states ban already, and which EUobserver has been reporting on this year, and which have faced a major backlash from environmental and health groups.
[Editor’s note: Read Was the EPA right not to ban the crop pesticide chlorpyrifos? to learn more.]
Documents obtained by Le Monde show how the producers are now trying to extend the current EU approval, which is due to expire on 31 January 2020.
Representatives from Corteva, created from the merger of Dow (the inventor of the pesticide products), and DuPont, told EU commission officials back in January 2019 that “regulation should not be done on the basis of public pressure triggered by activists which do not trust the legal regulatory system but on sound evidence”, according to an internal report.
…
A majority of member states representatives are said to be in favour of a chlorpyrifos ban when they meet this week (5 to 6 December.) …. Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, as well as Poland, are believed to be against ….
Read full, original article: Pesticide producers push back to halt EU ban
