Bijdrage mili­eu­com­missie over de pesticide chlor­py­rifos tijdens een gedach­te­wis­seling met het direc­toraat-generaal voor gezondheid en voed­sel­vei­ligheid

Anja Hazekamp (PvdD): EFSA has caught up to what independent scientists have been telling us for years: chlorpyrifos is a very, very dangerous toxin, and should not be used nor end up on our plates.

Very good, now it’s time to act accordingly. I am worried that the Commission will not act quick enough to protect us all from this nasty pesticide. Just this morning we had a debate with the Commission on several extensions that they gave to the approval periods of known harmful chemicals, specifically flumioxazin and chlorotoluron. Such extensions of approval periods are becoming the norm instead of the exception, which means that pesticides which cause serious harm to human and environmental health stay on the market for years after their approval periods should have expired, even when the science is clear that this presents unacceptable risks.

Even if the Commission cannot promise to revoke the current authorisation before it expires in January 2020, I want the guarantee today of the Commission that chlorpyrifos will not be extended beyond that time. This would also mean that there is no need for a transitional period, and that all national approvals will be withdrawn by January 2020 too. And it will mean that the maximum residue limits from January onwards will be at the Level of Detection[1].

Please reassure us that you indeed will not extend the approval period and will do everything you can to protect us from residues of this pesticide, also on the food we import.

Thank you.

[1] dit hoort automatisch te gebeuren bij pesticiden die vanwege volksgezondheidsrisico’s worden verboden, meestal is de Level of Detection (LOD) 0.01 mg/kg, soms nog lager, ligt aan de testmethodes die er in de labs zijn voor de specifieke stoffen.