Commission delays proposal for Regulation on the sustainable use of pesticides

On 23 March, the European Commission was supposed to publish a proposal for a Regulation on the Sustainable Use of pesticides (SUR). Instead, the Commission published a Communication on safeguarding food security and reinforcing the resilience of food systems, which sets out EU measures to address the impacts of the war in Ukraine on agricultural markets. The SUR postponement decision came after weeks of lobbying from the private sector lobby to water down and undermine the Farm to Fork strategy’s ambition.

For IFOAM Organics Europe, postponing the SUR is a misuse of the current situation and a political mistake. We regret that this decision strengthens the misconception that food security depends on the use of synthetic pesticides. On March 21, we co-signed a joint letter with Civil Society Organications calling on the Commission to stand by its commitment to the EI Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies and not to postpone the publication of the much-needed SUR proposal.

The Commission has only indicated that the SUR proposal will be published by the end of the summer 2022, but a precise date is still pending. As IFOAM Organics Europe, we will push the Commission to officially present a new publication date within the briefest delays. We will also advocate that the Commission maintains an ambitious reform, including strong and legally binding targets to reduce the use of synthetic pesticides, with appropriate new indicators to measure progress in pesticide reduction, and a clear recognition of the role of organic farming in reducing dependence on synthetic pesticides as well.

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