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Summary:
On July 27, 2001, the European Commission presented a report to the European Parliament and the Council regarding the 12-year program for the evaluation of plant protection product active substances, in which it proposes to extend the review program until 2008, and suggests new measures and resources for speeding up the evaluation process.
Council Directive 91/414/EEC:
On July 15, 1991, the Commission adopted Directive 91/414/EEC to harmonize the system for authorization, use and control of plant protection products in the EU. It is a dual-system, where the Community evaluates active substances and Member States evaluate and authorize plant protection products containing these substances. A basic principle of the Directive is the development of a positive list (Annex I) of active substances that are acceptable for the environment, human and animal health. The deadline for the completion of these evaluations is July 2003, with an interim progress report submitted in July 2001.
The Directive allows "existing" active substances (already on the market at the time of its entry into force, in July 1993) to remain in use until July 2003, pending Commission decisions on their inclusion in Annex I.
The Interim Report:
In its interim report of July 2001, the Commission identifies the need for new measures and resources and a more appropriate end-date for the completion of the evaluation of active substances of plant protection products. According to the Commission, experience shows that it will not be possible to evaluate all "existing" active substances before 2003, i.e., 10 years after the entry into force of Directive 91/414/EEC. Accordingly, the Commission requests an extension of the deadline and ways to speed up the evaluation process.
The strategies proposed in the report for speeding up the evaluations include the development of infrastructures and expertise in the Member States, an increase in resources (money and personnel) and the establishment of a European Food Authority. With these improvements, the Commission estimates that evaluation and decision-making on existing active substances will increase significantly in the future, and that the evaluation program should be completed by July 2003 for 1st round active substances, by 2005 for 2nd round active substances, and by 2008 for 3rd and 4th round active substances.
Next procedural steps:
The interim report is currently before the European Parliament and the Council for review. Once their positions are known, the Commission will issue proposals for amending Directive 91/414 so as to include the measures identified in the report, expectedly in 2002.
Useful links:
Official documents:
Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council
Commission Directive 91/414/EEC
For more information, please contact:
| Claudio Mereu - | Brussels - (011-322-278-1211) |