NEWS

EU and GB approval changes from January to March 2023

EU and GB approval changes 

Following the United Kingdom (UK) departure from the European Union (EU), COLEAD’s Regulation Monitoring now covers both EU and Great Britain (GB) approval changes, enabling us to keep COLEAD members and partner-beneficiaries up-to-date on both regulatory frameworks.  

Note that EU approvals still apply in Northern Ireland. Great Britain is the mainland comprising England, Scotland and Wales. 

The European Commission (EC) has recently published changes to 20 plant protection product (PPP) approvals within the EU. These include: 

– Extension of the approval period for 14 PPPs
– Renewal of approval of active substances abamectin and Pseudomonas chlororaphis strain MA 342
– Approval as a low-risk substance of Trichoderma atroviride AT10 and Trichoderma atroviride agr2
– Non-renewal of approval of active substance benfluralin
– Non-approval as a low-risk substance of lemon essential oil
– Notification to the WTO of its intention to withdraw the approval of ipconazole and not to renew the approval of dimoxystrobin.  

GB has not published nor notified any approval changes during this period. 

 

How will ACP producers/exporters be affected? 

Non-approval, withdrawal of approval or expiration of approval mean that EU/GB maximum residue levels (MRLs) are likely to be maintained or reduced to the limit of determination (LoD) which, in most cases, will mean that they can not be used on crops for export to the EU/GB. 

 

What should ACP producers/exporters do now? 

If you currently use benfluralin, ipconazole and dimoxystrobin on crops destined for the EU market, you need to ensure that current uses allow you to comply with new EU MRLs or start looking for alternatives as soon as the change is communicated. If this is likely to cause you significant problems, and you fear being left without effective and available alternatives, please contact COLEAD at: network@colead.link. 

We will keep you informed as more information becomes available

In this News, ‘key active substances’ refers to those used/registered in one or more ACP countries on horticultural crops that are frequently exported regionally or internationally. While COLEAD makes every effort to provide comprehensive information about EU and GB PPP regulatory changes, it is possible that some PPPs or crops relevant to you are not included in our list of key substances/crops. We recommend that you review the following section, which gives details on all approval changes since the beginning of 2023, to check for any others that could affect you. If you see any PPP that you use on crops for export to the EU or GB in the lists below, we recommend that you check the regulation itself using the link provided. 

Our news is a quarterly update designed to inform you of any changes introduced during the preceding three months. If you require more frequent updates on EU MRL changes, we invite you to visit our AGRINFO website and subscribe to the bi-monthly newsletter on EU regulations. 

AGRINFO is a programme funded by the European Union and implemented by COLEAD (Committee Linking Entrepreneurship-Agriculture-Development). It provides an online information service that keeps you up-to-date on evolving EU policies, regulations and standards with potential impacts on agri-food value chains. It provides clear summaries for third-country partners about the “what, why and when” of recent and upcoming changes, and actions needed to adjust to new rules. 

 

Key changes of approval in the EU during the period January-March 2023  

The EC has recently published changes to 20 plant protection product (PPP) approvals within the EU, including changes to 7 actives substances that are of importance for ACP horticulture. 

Extension of the approval periods for the following key substances: 

  • buprofezin (Expiry date: 31 January 2024) 
  • fluazinam (Expiry date: 29 February 2024) 
  • lambda-cyhalothrin (Expiry date: 31 March 2024) 
  • metiram (Expiry date: 31 January 2024) 
  • pyraclostrobin (Expiry date: 31 January 2024) 
  • oxamyl (Expiry date: 31 October 2023) 

 

Renewal of the active substance abamectin 

Abamectin is a natural fermentation product of soil dwelling actinomycete Streptomyces avermitilis. It is a used as an insecticide, miticide and nematicide on a large range of crops such as: citrus, pears, cotton, vegetables, and ornamental plants. 

The European Commission (EC) has published Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/515 concerning the renewal of approval of the active substance abamectin in the EU.  

 

All PPP approval changes introduced during the period January-March 2023

Table 1 shows all changes to PPP approvals introduced in the EU since the beginning of 2023. 

If you require additional information, or face particular problems as a result of these changes, please contact COLEAD at: network@colead.link.


Further proposed approval change

Table 2 shows WTO notifications of draft regulations of active substance approval changes.  

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT) notifications advise that an active ingredient is subject to a proposed non-renewal or modification of condition of approval for use in the notifying country or region (usually linked to human or environmental risks). 

All draft regulations must be notified to the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Information Management System (TBT IMS) for a commenting period of 60 days before they are adopted. This provides an important opportunity for countries to feed back into the regulatory process to seek an amendment if the change is likely to have a significant impact on exports. When this is the case, stakeholders should contact their national WTO contact point in order to provide their feedback. 

 

References 

Lasota JA, Dybas RA. Abamectin as a pesticide for agricultural use. Acta Leiden. 1990;59(1-2):217-25. PMID: 2198753. 

 

This publication has been developped by the Fit For Market Plus programme, implemented by COLEAD within the framework of Development cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the European Union (EU).

This publication has been produced with the financial support of the EU and the OACPS. Its contents are the sole responsibility of COLEAD and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the EU or the OACPS.