NFU West Midlands members urged to continue push against EU pesticide plans
The NFU is stepping up its campaign against EU pesticide plans and is calling on all members to make their voices heard.
The EU plans to impose disproportionate, impractical and highly bureaucratic controls on how farmers use crop protection products.
The NFU is arguing that the existing legal safeguards, plus the voluntary measures already in place under the Voluntary Initiative (www.voluntaryinitiative.org.uk) provide a more than adequate guarantee that crop sprays will be used safely and responsibly.
West Midlands members are being urged to contact their MEPs, in particular Philip Bushill-Matthews who sits on the European Parliament's environment committee.
Members can write to Mr Bushill-Matthews at The Manor House, Harbury, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV33 9HX or email bushillm@aol.com
The adverse controls which the NFU is calling on its members to lobby about include:
• EU targets for pesticide reduction of 25 per cent over five years and 50 per cent over 10 years.
• Introduction of levies (taxes) on pesticides.
• Compulsory buffer zones - 10m alongside watercourses.
• Ban on spraying vertical crops (Hops, orchards etc) alongside watercourses.
• Ban on use in public areas and substantial buffer zones around residential areas.
• Sprayer testing to mandatory one year in five.
• Requirement to notify neighbours when spraying in certain circumstances.
The NFU has been in contact with Mr Bushill-Matthews about the proposals and he has been briefed on the impact of these proposals on farmers and growers in this region.
The Union is also lobbying hard in Brussels.
A plenary vote will be held in the European Parliament on the issue at the end of October before the proposals go to the Council of Ministers for co-decision.
