In Bulgarian agriculture, pesticides containing an EU-banned chemical are still commonly used

The European Green Deal aims to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050 with MEPs' commitment to safe and nutritious food. However, in some member states, such as Bulgaria, they are having difficulty gaining traction.    

The EU's food policy, From Farm to Fork (F2F), sets out concrete targets for greening the sector, including a 50% reduction in pesticide use and risk. In September 2019, the European Commission has revoked the approval of ethopropos, an active ingredient in plant protection products used to control wireworms in potatoes and other vegetable crops, which can no longer be sold or distributed, and previously purchased stock cannot be used after March 2020. The substance is classified as "highly poisonous". Despite this, the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture has permitted the use of ethopropos.    

According to the regulation, a member state is allowed to use an unauthorized plant protection product for up to 120 days in exceptional circumstances. The Bulgarian officials claim that without the ethopropos, not a single potato can be grown in the country. Therefore, the deputy executive director of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) reauthorized the ethopropos-based product Mocap (active substance ethopropos 100 g/kg) in December 2020. Moreover, the State Fund for Agriculture paid Bulgarian farmers nearly 1 million euros to cover the costs of the insecticides, as part of a special state aid program to control wireworms on potatoes, meaning that Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture is not only using but also subsidizing a plant protection product which contains an EU-banned active ingredient. What makes this case even more disturbing is that the BFSA does not hold itself responsible for any loss of effectiveness or phytotoxicity associated with the use of Mocap, implying that the farmers are solely responsible for its application.    


Source:  

https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/pesticide-with-eu-banned-substance-still-widely-used-in-bulgarian-agriculture/