26 Amendments of Tudor CIUHODARU related to 2022/0196(COD)
Amendment 340 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Two European citizens’ initiatives address the use of pesticides and call for ambitious medium- and long-term reduction targets. The initiative ‘Ban glyphosate and protect people and the environment from toxic pesticides’ submitted to the Commission on 6 October 2017 called on the Commission, under its third aim, ‘to set EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use, with a view to achieving a pesticide-free future’. In its reply adopted on 12 December 2017, the Commission stated that it would re- evaluate the need for EU-wide mandatory targets for pesticides. More recently, the initiative ‘Save bees and farmers! Towards a bee-friendly agriculture for a healthy environment’ calls on the Commission ‘to propose legal acts to phase out synthetic pesticides in EU agriculture by 80% by 2030, starting with the most hazardous, and to become free of synthetic by 2035.’ The initiative has collected over 1 million statements of support by 30 September 2021 which are currently being verified by Member States authorities.
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) In the final report of the Conference on the Future of Europe, published on 9 May 2022, when it comes to the proposals on agriculture, food production, biodiversity and ecosystems, pollution, citizens ask the Union in particular to significantly reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, in line with the existing targets, while still ensuring food security, and support for research to develop as swiftly as possible more sustainable and natural- based alternatives. Citizens ask for more research and innovations, including in technological solutions for sustainable production, plant resistance, and precision farming, and more communication, advisory systems, and training for and from farmers as well as asking the Union to protect insects, in particular indigenous and pollinating insects.55 __________________ 55 Conference on the Future of Europe – Report on the Final Outcome, May 2022, Proposals 1 and 2, pp. 43-44.
Amendment 415 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) Member States should draft and publish national medium- and long-term action plans. In order for the Member State national action plans to be effective, they should contain quantitative objectives, references to binding national 2030 reduction targets as set out in national law, together with related indicative targets set out in the national action plans, joint measures, timetables and indicators to reduce risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment. This will allow for a structured approach to the setting of quantitative objectives and targets, with a clear link to the national 2030 reduction targets. In order to monitor compliance with the provisions of this Regulation, Member States should also be required to report annually on targets and precise quantitative data relating to compliance with provisions on use, training, application equipment and integrated pest management.
Amendment 454 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) Economic instruments, including those under the CAP that provide support to farmers, can play a crucial role in the achievement of objectives relating to the sustainable use of plant protection products and, in particular, reducing the use of chemical plant protection products. Member States have to show in their national CAP Strategic Plans, by means of rigorous monitoring and regular reporting, that their implementation of the CAP contributes to and supports other relevant Union legislation and their objectives, including objectives under this Regulation.
Amendment 471 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) An approach to pest control that follows integrated pest management in ensuring careful consideration of all available means that discourage the development of populations of harmful organisms, while keeping the use of chemical plant protection products to levels that are economically and ecologically justified and minimising risks to human health and the environment is necessary for the protection of human health and the environment, and to help stem the process of the disappearance of species of insects and other creatures in farming areas. ‘Integrated pest management’ emphasises the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems, encourages natural pest control mechanisms and uses chemical control only when all other control means are exhausted. To ensure that integrated pest management is implemented consistently on the ground, it is necessary to lay down clear rules in this Regulation. In order to comply with the obligation to follow integrated pest management, a professional user should consider and implement all methods and practices that avoid the use of plant protection products. Chemical plant protection products should only be used when all other control means have been exhausted. In order to ensure and monitor compliance with this requirement, it is important that professional users keep a record of the reasons why they apply plant protection products or the reasons for any other action taken in line with integrated pest management and of advice received in support of their implementation of integrated pest management from independent advisors. These records are also required for aerial applications.
Amendment 480 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) To avoid unnecessary duplication, the Commission should establish a standard template for Member States to integrate records kept by professional users of actions taken in line with integrated pest management with those kept under Article 67 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, along with statistics on the plant protection products placed and sold on the market, to avoid the use of unsuitable products.
Amendment 494 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In order to verify compliance by professional users with integrated pest management, an electronic integrated pest management and plant protection product use register should be maintained, especially for products imported from countries outside the EU, which are liable not to conform to EU standards on chemical pest management substances, with the aim of verifying compliance with the rules on integrated pest management set out in this Regulation and supporting the development of Union policy. Access to the register should also be granted to national statistical authorities for the development, production and dissemination of official statistics in accordance with Chapter V of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council66. This register should record any preventative measure or intervention and the reasons for that preventative measure or intervention. This will provide the competent authorities with the information necessary to verify whether a professional user has carried out a decision-making process, in accordance with integrated pest management, before determining the specific preventative measure or intervention. The register should also contain details in relation to advice required annually in support of integrated pest management in order to verify that such strategic longer term planning in relation to integrated pest management is taking place. __________________ 66 Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).
Amendment 498 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) In order to ensure that plant protection products and related application equipment are used in a manner that protects human health and the environment, it is necessary to provide for general requirements on professional users in relation to the regular training required to use certain plant protection products, in close connection with the appearance of new plant protection products or application equipment, the use of more hazardous plant protection products and the need to comply with inspection requirements for application equipment in professional use.
Amendment 513 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) Use of plant protection products may have particularly negative impacts in certain areas that are frequently used by the general public or by vulnerable groups, communities in which people live and work and ecologically sensitive areas, such as Natura 2000 sites protected in accordance with Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council67 and Council Directive 92/43/EEC68. If plant protection products are used in areas used by the general public, it is necessary to inform the public on the possibility of exposure of humans to such plant protection products is high. In order to protect human health and the environment, the use of plant protection products in sensitive areas and within 3 metres of such areas, should therefore be prohibited. Derogations from the prohibition should only be allowed under certain conditions and on a case-by-case basis. __________________ 67 Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds (OJ L 20, 26.1.2010, p. 7). 68 Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (OJ L 206, 22.7.1992, p. 7).
Amendment 523 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) The aquatic environment and drinking water supplies are especially sensitive to plant protection products, which have long-term harmful effects. In order to protect the aquatic environment, the use of plant protection products in and around surface waters areas should therefore be prohibited. Member States should have in place appropriate measures to avoid deterioration of surface and groundwater as well as coastal and marine waters and allow achievement of good surface and groundwater status, to protect the aquatic environment and drinking water supplies from the impact of plant protection products. In addition, it is important that professional users are trained in how to minimise or eliminate applications of certain plant protection products classified as “harmful to aquatic life with long lasting effects”, “very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects” or “toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects”. It is also important that professional users are trained on the importance of giving preference to low risk plant protection products or non-chemical alternatives, use of drift reducing technology and risk mitigation measures.
Amendment 530 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) Precision farming refers to agricultural management systems carefully tailoring crop management to fit localised conditions such as those found within land parcels. The application of existing technology, including the use of Union space data and services (Galileo and Copernicus), has the potential to significantly reduce pesticide usage. It is therefore necessary to provide for a legislative framework that incentivises the development of precision farming and to grant the appropriate financial support for the purchasing of the requisite IT equipment. Application of plant protection products from an aircraft, including application by planes, helicopters and drones, is usually less precise than other means of application and may therefore potentially cause adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Aerial application should therefore be prohibited, with limited derogations on a case-by-case basis where it has a less negative impact on human health and the environment than any alternative application method or there is no viable alternative application method. It is also necessary to record the numbers of aerial applications carried out on the basis of permits granted for aerial application in order to have clear data on how many aerial applications for which permits were granted actually took place.
Amendment 539 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) Handling of plant protection products, including storage, dilution and mixing of such products, cleaning of application equipment after use, recovery and disposal of tank mixtures and disposal of empty packaging and remnants of plant protection products pose particular risks of exposure to humans and to the environment. Therefore it is appropriate to provide for specific measures addressing these activities. T, and especially the collection, destruction and recycling, where this is possible, of the remains of products and their packaging, to the extent that the use, storage and disposal of plant protection products require compliance with minimum health and safety requirements at the workplace, those requirements are laid down by, inter alia, Council Directive 89/391/EEC69, Council Directive 89/656/EEC70, Council Directive 98/24/EC71, Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council72 and Directive 2009/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council73. __________________ 69 Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1). 70 Council Directive 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment at the workplace (third individual directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 393, 30.12.1989, p. 18). 71 Council Directive 98/24/EC of 7 April 1998 on the protection of the health and safety of workers from the risks related to chemical agents at work (fourteenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 131, 5.5.1998, p. 11). 72 Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (Sixth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 50). 73 Directive 2009/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 260, 3.10.2009, p. 5).
Amendment 541 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29 a (new)
Recital 29 a (new)
(29a) Article 29a – The Member States and the Commission shall support cooperation between the academic world and users of pest treatments of all kinds with a view to the development of new less-polluting plant protection products and methods and the handing-on of best practices to other potential beneficiaries of such treatments less damaging to the environment and to humans.
Amendment 543 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) Given the importance of advice on the use of plant protection products as a means to support their use in a manner that protects human health and the environment in accordance with integrated pest management, it is important that advisors are adequately trained in the medium and long term, while also taking technological developments into account.
Amendment 549 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) Sale of a plant protection product is an important element in the distribution chain because it allows distributors to provide the necessary information to support its proper use, especially in the case of new products and products from outside the EU. Specific advice on safety instructions for human health and the environment should be available to the purchaser or end user at the time of sale in order to allow questions to be answered that will facilitate the correct use of the relevant plant protection product. For non- professional users, general information should be available at point of sale on safe use, handling and storage of plant protection products, especially in the case of new products and products from outside the EU, and on disposal of the packaging of such products, since those users do not generally have the same practical knowledge as professional users.
Amendment 552 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) It is essential that Member States establish and maintain systems of both initial and regular follow-up training, in coordination with the appearance of new products or products from outside the EU, for distributors, advisors and professional users of plant protection products and certification systems to record such training, in order to ensure that those operators are fully aware of the potential risks to human health and the environment and of the appropriate measures to reduce those risks as much as possible. The training for advisors should be more extensive than that of distributors and professional users since they need to be able to support the proper implementation of integrated pest management and crop- specific rules. The use or purchase of a plant protection product authorised for professional use must be limited to persons in possession of a training certificate. In addition, in order to ensure safe use of plant protection products for human health and the environment, distributors should be required to provide both professional and non-professional purchasers of plant protection products with product specific information at point of sale.
Amendment 564 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) Considering the possible risks to human health and the environment from the use of plant protection products, the public should have access to better information on the overall impacts of the use of such products through awareness- raising programmes for a range of target groups, information passed on through distributors and other appropriate measures.
Amendment 566 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) In order to better understand the trends regarding acute poisoning incidents and chronic poisoning, and regarding the ways to treat cases of poisoning, arising from exposure of persons to plant protection products, information on such trends should be compiled by each Member State. The Commission should also monitor the overall trends at Union level.
Amendment 617 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 41
Recital 41
(41) The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 recognises the need for urgent action to protect biodiversity. There is evidence of a widespread reduction of species, in particular insects and pollinators, in the Union. Biodiversity loss is, amongst other factors, driven by the use of plant protection products, especially when it comes to the marketing of new products whose effects are not well known, or of products originating from outside the EU and which may not conform to the relevant EU standards, while Member States actions under current Union policy instruments have not yet been able to stop this trend of biodiversity loss. It is therefore essential to ensure that plant protection products are used in such a way as to mitigate the risk of harmful effects of such products on wildlife, through a number of measures including training, inspection of application equipment in professional use and protection of the aquatic environment and sensitive areas.
Amendment 642 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 47
Recital 47
(47) In order to assess whether this Regulation reaches its objectives effectively and efficiently, is coherent and still relevant and provides added value at Union level the Commission should carry out an regular evaluation of this Regulation.
Amendment 2146 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 18 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a competent authority designated by a Member State may permit a professional user to use a plant protection product in a sensitive area for a limited period with a precisely defined start and end date that is the shortest possible but does not exceed 60 days, and which are strictly monitored and recorded, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
Amendment 2179 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 6 a (new)
Article 18 – paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. entry in the pest control product register
Amendment 2297 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 22 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) disposal of obsolete plant protection products and remnants and their packaging and identification of potential measures for their recycling.
Amendment 2371 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. regular training closely correlated to the emergence of new plant protection products on the market, and especially the marketing of products originating outside the EU and liable not to comply with the relevant EU requirements.
Amendment 2453 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 26 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. emergence and marketing of new pest control products.
Amendment 2465 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 2
Article 27 – paragraph 2
2. The competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall establish a website or websites dedicated to providing regular information on risks associated with the use of plant protection products. That information may be provided directly or by providing links to relevant websites of other national or international bodies.