EU Commission adopts new rules to facilitate the approval of biological pesticides

To support the EU's transition towards sustainable food systems and the reduction of the use of chemical pesticides under the Farm to Fork strategy, the Commission is adopting new rules to increase the availability of and access to biological plant protection products intended for use in Member States' fields. The new rules will facilitate the authorization of micro-organisms for use as active substances in plant protection products and provide EU farmers with additional options to replace chemical plant protection products with more sustainable alternatives. Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said: “The transition to more sustainable food systems means finding alternatives to chemical pesticides that respect our planet and our health. The Commission is committed to facilitating this process by increasing the number of organic and low-risk alternatives on the market – we have already approved 20 low-risk alternatives since the start of our mandate. With these new rules, we will ensure that organic alternatives can reach our farmers even faster. The more resources we collectively invest in the evaluation of plant protection products, the more safe alternatives we will have to meet our commitment to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030.” The new rules will place the biological properties and of each micro-organism at the heart of the scientific risk assessment process, which must demonstrate safety before micro-organisms can be approved as active substances in plant protection products. They should make it possible to speed up the authorization of micro-organisms and the biological plant protection products which contain them. Already approved by Member States in February 2022, the new rules will apply from November 2022. More information is available in our Q&A.
(For more information: Stefan De Keersmaecker - Tel: +32 229 84680; Célia Dejond - Tel: +32 229 88199)