Tag Archives: EU

Commissions agrees glyphosate approval for 18 months

On Friday (24 June) the European Appeals Committee failed to reach a qualified majority on proposals to extend the approval of glyphosate for the next 15 years.

Following the split vote the decision passed to the European Commission, with EU health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis confirming an 18-month extension to the licence for glyphosate on Tuesday (28 June). The 18 month license has been proposed by the Commission as a temporary measure pending the publication of further research.

Nick von Westenholz, CPA CEO commented, “It is disappointing that Member States have forced the Commission into this position by ignoring the science and advice of expert regulators. The indecision of Member States and the need for an extension demonstrates how politicised this process has become. Nevertheless, it will be a relief to farmers that they will be able to continue to use this crucial tool, at least in the short-term.

“We urge Member States to take the sensible, science led decision to re-licence this safe, efficient and effective product for the full 15 year period once the 18 month extension has expired. Failure to re-license glyphosate would be contrary to the science, provide no benefit to human health, wildlife or the environment and at the same time remove one of the key tools our farmers need to produce a safe, healthy, reliable and affordable supply of food.”

The post Commissions agrees glyphosate approval for 18 months appeared first on Hort News on 29 June 2016.

Agricultural income per worker falls

Real agricultural income in the European Union (EU) has fallen by 6.0% in 2015 compared with 2014, while agricultural labour input has dropped by 1.8% according to the latest estimated figures from the European Commission. As a result, real agricultural income per worker in the EU has decreased by 4.3% in 2015.

However, the picture is mixed with thirteen member states showing increases in income per worker while fifteen reported falls. For the UK income per agricultural worker fell 19.3% compared with the previous year, representing a 21.6% decline on 2010 figures. Germany was the worst performing country seeing incomes fall by 37.6%.

According to Eurostat, which compiled the figures from national data, the biggest falls in output value were for sugar beet, grain maize, milk, pigs and forage. In terms of crop production across the EU the value of fresh vegetables rose 12.1%, with fruit up 7.3% and wine up 2.5%.

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