Red tape: slowing down Farm to Fork

Time is running out, but the European Commission is still not streamlining the procedures for certifying biocontrol products, which are essential to promote the ‘green’ route

The ‘Farm to Fork’ (F2F) strategy laid down by the European Commission is in the sights of many agents in the sector. On the one hand are the agricultural organisations and producers using conventional methods, who believe that the goals marked out by the Green Deal to increase the ecological surface area percentage are not realistic, and they also affirm that the banning of plant protection products “is leading us to a real disaster.”

On the other hand, producers and companies specialising in biotechnology and biocontrol, indicate that the EC registration processes demanded at present must be streamlined. And the fact is that although the EC says it wants a ‘green’ transition, it is spiking the wheels of this process because certifying an ecological farming product takes the same time as a plant protection product – between 8 and 10 years. How are we going to get there in time when the countdown has already started?

At Koppert they affirm that there are “solutions in the fridge”, but the registration processing for new biological solutions is too slow. During the talk ‘The UNE inputs, a certification for the ecological sector’ at Infoagro Exhibition, Magda Galeano, Head of Regulatory Affairs at Koppert, indicated that the registration processes need to be streamlined and more budget devoted to this area to encourage the use of this type of solution, maintaining or increasing the aid for solutions such as the use of biological control through operational programmes. These requests were passed on by IBMA Spain (International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association) at a debate organised by the Socialist Euro MP Clara Aguilera, at the European Parliament’s office in Spain.

IBMA commented on the urgent need to reduce the registration processes for marketing new biological solutions that allow European farmers to have alternatives to the conventional crop protection products that are currently being taken off the market.

EU Innovation

Marisé Borja, representing IBMA, recalled that biotechnology innovation in Europe is running the serious risk of becoming blocked due to the excessive red tape, while in other non-EU countries such as Brazil, the registration process for a new biological solution takes no longer than two years.

“Through the F2F strategy, the EC proposes an ecological transition based on the reduction of chemicals and the promotion of biological control, but if nothing is done to aid putting on the market the biological solutions that we already have on the waiting list, it will be very difficult to guarantee the sustainability goals,“ she states. “If the registration processes are not streamlined, we are going to find many biotechnological innovations developed in Europe that cannot be used to benefit the EU producers.”

IBMA Spain also showed its interest in not delaying the passing of the European Regulation of Sustainable Use of Plant Production Products, because it would mean a legal backup to biocontrol development in Europe.

If it is not passed before the current legislature of the European Parliament ends in 2024, the entire process of political debate will have to start over from zero. “If we don’t have this regulation that is so important for the future of biocontrol in Europe soon, we will miss a historic opportunity.”