EU bans controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos | Inquirer Technology

EU bans controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos

/ 06:51 PM December 08, 2019

pesticide

A farmer treats a field with pesticide spray next to human habitation close to Trébons sur la Grasse, southern France. Image: AFP/Remy Gabalda via AFP Relaxnews

A controversial pesticide linked to developmental problems in humans will be definitively banned in the European Union (EU) in 2020 after a vote on Friday by member states, the European Commission said.

The commission, the EU’s powerful regulator, had proposed for non-renewal of the chemical agent following an assessment by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) that had confirmed “risks to human health.”

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Eight EU countries have already banned products containing chlorpyrifos, which is commonly used in farming. The American state of California also banned them in August.

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Virtually all residential uses of the pesticide has been banned since the end of 2001 throughout the United States.

To be marketed in the EU, a chemical substance must be approved by a committee of experts made up of the bloc’s 28 member countries and headed by the commission.

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Individual countries can then decide whether to approve or not products containing such substances. Companies will have three months to eliminate stocks of these products. RGA

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TOPICS: ban, California, European Union, Farming, pesticide
TAGS: ban, California, European Union, Farming, pesticide

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