EU member states have agreed a negotiating position that would cut to almost zero the residues of certain banned pesticides permitted in imported food and animal feed, clearing the way for talks with the European Parliament.
The mandate, agreed on September 30, keeps the European Commission’s plan to lower maximum residue levels for the most hazardous substances to what officials call “technical zero”, the point at which a laboratory can no longer reliably measure them. Each cut would follow an impact assessment.
Member states also widened the measure beyond substances stripped of EU approval for their hazardous properties. It would now cover those whose conditions of use pose unacceptable risks to bees or groundwater.
Maximum residue levels set how much pesticide may legally remain in food or feed of plant or animal origin. The substances concerned lost EU authorisation over properties linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption or long-term environmental damage.
Farm organisations have argued for years that the cost of compliance falls on European growers while imported competitors reach the same shelf carrying none of the same bill, a case that resurfaced in the row over “European preference” in public procurement and runs through the long fight over the EU-Mercosur agreement. The Cypriot presidency failed to secure a common position on the package in June, leaving the file to Ireland.
The text allows transitional periods so that goods meeting the old limits can still be sold for a set time, which the Council said would avoid food waste.
The rest of the mandate moves in the opposite direction. Biocontrol substances would get priority in pre-approval assessments, and low-risk active substances and the products containing them could be authorised without any time limit.
For everything else, a first approval would run for 15 years rather than 10, and renewals for 25 rather than 15. In return, the European Food Safety Authority would periodically review published science and monitoring data.
Biocide approvals would follow the same pattern, 15 years at first and 25 on renewal. Procedures for certain feed additives would be simplified and part of their labelling could move online.
The Council also backs wording stating that products made by fermentation using genetically modified micro-organisms are not food or feed “produced from” such organisms, with Commission guidance to keep traces to a minimum.
More than 500 scientists and doctors asked the Parliament in September to pause the overhaul, warning that open-ended approvals would strip out the regular reassessment that catches new evidence. Campaigners say dozens of synthetic pesticides could qualify automatically.
Talks can begin once the Parliament adopts its own position. The presidency wants a provisional deal on the whole package before the end of the year.
