The latest wave, with the backing of an all-important independent report, was launched in Brussels to MEPs and Commission staff last week.
NFU Plant Health Adviser Don Pendergrast (pictured left) is at the forefront of the campaign.
He writes:
As a scientist, I find it shocking when I see government regulation which isn’t based on sound science. When you consider farming livelihoods and domestic food production are at stake, the impact of this red tape takes on an extra dimension.
There is no getting away from the fact that EU regulation dictates what farmers in the UK can use on their crops, and in turn, the amount of affordable, wholesome food we can produce.
The worrying trend is that while farmers are gearing up to feed the rising population, the number of available Plant Protection Products (PPPs) is on the decline.
The Healthy Harvest campaign started out to safeguard the PPPS that farmers used to protect their crops.
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These encompass pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, molluscicides as well as products to help plants grow as opposed to fend off pests or diseases. It’s developed into a bigger campaign following the formidable findings from an Andersons report provoking farmers and policy-makers alike to sit up in their seats.
Overly precautionary regulation stops the use of active ingredients which make up many of the vital PPPs used on farm.
The crux of the argument lies in ‘Hazard vs. Risk’. We’d like to see regulation based on actual risk, taking into account both dose and exposure, instead of blunt regulation that classes the active ingredient as a hazard and removes it from use.
The campaign won support from several Members of the European Parliament, in particular Richard Ashworth MEP, who attended the event. Mr Ashworth has promised to use his seat on the Parliament’s Agriculture Committee to call for policy decisions to be based on sound scientific evidence.
This promise is gratefully received as the NFU is determined to continue to lobby for regulations based on thorough, up-to-date science. This is vital with the chemistry used on farm being among the most highly regulated in the world. We encourage farmers in the UK to innovate and create strong farming businesses that will feed the population, and we need the right regulatory environment for that.