The removal of certain Plant
Protection Products from the Market: Revoked Active Substances
A number
of active substances used in Plant Protection Products (PPP’s) are to be
revoked from the market after an extensive review to evaluate the safety
of all active substances was carried out. The programme is managed by
the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and was launched in 1993 by
the European Commission.
Certain
active substances, such as malathion, carbaryl, carbofuran, diazinon,
fenitrothion, trichlorfon and Haloxyfop-R were not approved, and thus
not included in the Annex 1 of the Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market. As a
result these have to be removed from the market as from an indicated
date, stipulated by the relevant legislation.
In the EU,
the placing of PPP’s on the market is principally regulated by the
Directive 91/414/EEC. This Directive states that chemical substances or
micro organisms (including viruses) in pesticides are only approved for
use if they have undergone a peer-reviewed safety assessment. Each
active substance has a designated rapporteur Member State, that is a
Member State responsible to submit the Draft Assessment Report.
The
revocation of the active substances used in the PPP’s causes the removal
from the local market of a number of PPP’s as from the indicated
withdrawal date. The stock of PPP’s could continue to be used for
another year as from the indicated date, due to a granted period of
grace.
For
further information consult the web link of the Plant Health Department
on
http://www.planthealth.gov.mt/ or contact the Pesticides
Control Unit within the Plant Health Department on 25904156.
