The Dutch and EU policy calls for 'green' crop protection to increasingly replace the chemical plant protection. For several years this was the policy, but the legislation, the EU regulation 1107/2009, is too unmanageable in the implementation to actually introduce more ‘green’ products faster onto the market.
But recently there are a few breakthroughs in which Artemis played a role and that are in the interests of the 'greening'. In the Netherlands on 15 March, the Green Deal was signed, a protocol led by the Ministry of Economic Affairs with sector parties, including Artemis, to go through new applications for ‘green’ protection products from reporting to registration during two and a half years (read more). This has yielded six registrations and new 'green' products, but more important is the learning curve and the recommendations that are relevant to Artemis. Endorsed was that the process should be more accessible to the applicants, because it is complicated especially for the new 'green' players. The CTGB (Board for the Authorization of Plant Protection Products and Biocides) has already set this in motion by the setting up of a ‘Green Team’ with a coordinator ‘green resources’. Also the entire process from application to registration will be reviewed to see if it can be cheaper and shorter. It is positive that it has been decided that the good cooperation of all parties will be continued in Green Deal II to further shape the recommendations. Within the legal framework of 1107/2009 all possibilities will be investigated and used to stimulate the transition to ‘green’ products.
Within the EU on 15 February, the European Parliament presented a proposal for amendment of 1107/2009 (link), which must make possible the acceleration of the admission of low-risk substances. It is now up to the Commission (DG Sante) to bring the resolution into effect. Key points in this resolution are the mentioned date, meaning that the amendment has to take place before December 2018. This means that this decision falls outside the REFIT of the entire 1107/2009 which will take, according to expectations, several more years. The European Confederation of Artemis, IBMA, has worked hard in Brussels for over two years to achieve this. The amendment would mean that the low risk, meaning the 'green' substances would receive a provisional authorization, which will result in a considerable acceleration of green products towards the market. This is especially important for the Netherlands, because the new legal framework can give the intention for the Dutch Green Deal II an additional ambition. This will ensure that the 'green' products of the Artemis members will have the opportunity to be more readily available for farmers and growers, which effectively will be an important step towards greening of crop protection.
Artemis is the Dutch association of manufacturers and distributors of biological crop protection products, which are part of the ‘green’ crop protection products.
