The European Commission has denied any discrimination between imports and domestic use of pesticide imidacloprid in agriculture products.

The not-for-profit organisation, Centre for Environment and Agriculture (CENTEGRO), has claimed that the European Union has put trade barriers on agriculture imports by setting stiff quality standards of maximum pesticides residual level of less than 0.01 ppm (parts per million) followed by European Union. The European Commission in a letter to CENTEGRO said while the use of imidacloprid in the EU was banned in 2018, it is possible for member states to authorise the placing on the market of plant protection products for 120 days to contain a danger that cannot be controlled by any other reasonable means.

In case, the use of the authorised products result in residues in food and feed above the MRLs (maximum residue limit) established at the Union level, the authorising member state may exceptionally allow the placing on the market on its own territory provided that the food or feed does not constitute an unacceptable risk and inform the other member states.

Insecticide ban

However, food-containing residues of substances above the EU MRL must stay on the territory of the member state having granted such an authorisation. The purpose of an emergency authorisation is not to facilitate trade, but rather to allow a member state to address serious dangers for plant health, said EC in its response to a letter written by S Ganesan, Executive Director, CENTEGRO,

Reacting to EU response, Ganesan said the EU banned all uses of the insecticide imidacloprid and lowered MRL to 0.01 ppm (parts per million) on imported agriculture products and notified the WTO as required under the SPS Agreement.

However, he said subsequently many member countries of the EU granted emergency uses of Imidacloprid with an enhanced MRL of 0.5 ppm. “Is it not allowing 0.5 ppm MRL for domestic products and 0.01 ppm on the ‘like” imported products discriminatory under WTO? CENTEGRO will send a rejoinder to the EC and take the battle to the public domain within and outside India. We will also take this up with our Commerce Ministry,” he said.