EU Study Warns Pesticide Import Curbs Risk Lifting Food Prices

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(Bloomberg) — A European Union study found that proposed curbs on farm imports treated with pesticides risk pushing up consumer prices, adding to trade concerns raised by agricultural powerhouses such as the US and Brazil. 

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In a preliminary study published Tuesday, the European Commission said that, in the scenarios that were assessed, “imports decline, EU production rises and consumer prices increase,” though the “magnitude depends strongly on exporters’ adaptation assumptions.”

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The study adds to concerns raised by 19 countries at a World Trade Organization meeting in June, including the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia and Argentina. The US urged the EU to ensure its proposals are supported by a full risk assessment and avoid unnecessary withdrawals. 

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The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, proposed measures in December as part of efforts to streamline and simplify food and feed safety legislation, while also aiming to “ensure a level playing field” for the bloc’s producers. The proposal would give the EU the power to ban imports with traces of pesticides that aren’t authorized in the bloc.

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The proposal risks destabilizing markets and supply chains with a “zero-tolerance approach” that would make it “nearly impossible to reliably export to the EU,” the US Department of Agriculture said last week in an emailed response to questions. A USDA spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the EU’s study. 

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European Commission spokespeople Arianna Podesta and Eva Hrncirova said at a daily press briefing Tuesday the study was only one step in the process and should be considered separately from the EU’s proposal, which they added had been notified to the WTO and feedback had been assessed and responded to. 

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The EU previously disputed the potential impact of its proposed measures, saying they would only be applied to specific substances in light of an impact assessment on a case-by-case basis, while the preliminary study looks at such restrictions more broadly. In an emailed statement last week, a Commission spokesperson said the bloc will take into account the importance of preserving the EU’s food security and possible trade implications, while imports of commodities not produced in the EU, like coffee, or feeds the economy relies on will not be affected.

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The December proposal would enable the EU to reduce the traces of certain pesticides — so-called ‘Maximum Residue Levels’ or MRLs — permitted in imports to a technical zero, at the limit of what can be detected in tests, effectively banning their use on products to be exported to the bloc. 

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The current system allows for residues of some pesticides not approved in the EU if they pose no risk to consumers, which the Commission in its proposed regulation warned still allows some substances that are hazardous to the environment to be used.