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The farming sector has hit back at claims that Britain has become the ‘toxic poster child of Europe', after the UK Government was accused of allowing the use of pesticides which are banned in the EU.

Research from campaign group Pesticide Action Network (PAN) stated that 36 chemicals had been approved for use in the UK while being deemed to be harmful to human health and nature by the EU.

Nick Mole, policy officer at PAN had said following the publication of its findings that: "The UK is becoming the toxic poster child of Europe. The Government has repeatedly promised that our environmental standards will not slip post-Brexit. And yet here we are, less than four years later, and already we are seeing our standards fall far behind those of the EU."

However, Hazel Doonan, head of Crop Protection and Agronomy at AIC, branded the campaign as ‘disingenuous and misleading', adding that of the 36 chemicals listed by PAN, only a third are pesticides approved for use in Great Britain. She pointed out that one was in the process of being withdrawn from use, while another was currently being considered for take-up in the EU.

"One chemical ingredient is a biocide (rodenticide), one is a pheromone and one a herbicide safener used as co-formulant in plant protection product formulations," Ms Doonan said.

"Of the pesticide active substances listed, 12 are currently approved for use in Britain on the CRD database and one of these (indoxacarb) was withdrawn by on 1 September 2022. One (cinmethylin) is new active substance approved for use in June 2022. This is ahead of the EU which is expected to give approval soon.

Inaccurate

"It was therefore inaccurate to call this a list of pesticides, as most are classed as other non-pesticide chemicals. We believe the campaign is disingenuous and misleading," she added.

Defra too dismissed the findings and insisted the sale and use of pesticides where scientific assessment clearly shows they will not harm people or pose unacceptable risks to the environment was controlled by ‘very strict regulation'.

A Defra spokesperson said: "Pesticides have to be authorised for use on the market in GB by our expert regulator, the Health and Safety Executive or by Ministers, following those thorough scientific risk assessments. More widely, the Health and Safety Executive is developing a programme to review our pesticide approvals and can take action to review approval at any time if they identify serious concerns."

Ms Doonan also said it was important to highlight that renewal or non-renewal was at times based on commercial decisions as certain products became unavailable or were deemed to be no longer financially viable.

"CRD/HSE has stressed that it retains the power to review an active substance at any time if there is evidence suggesting concerns for human health of the environment. As such we are confident that the UK system is both robust and effective and any risks are properly monitored and controlled."