The EU Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive sits in limbo, but Ireland and the EU continue to work on EU targets to reduce pesticide usage by 50% by 2030 outlined in the Farm to Fork Strategy.

Anne Marie Dillon spoke at the Teagasc National Tillage Conference on Wednesday 29 January and outlined how the proposal to move to a Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation, which would bring these targets to law, was withdrawn in May 2024.

Some thought the regulation didn’t go far enough, while others thought they went too far. The directive remains in place and the regulations are set to come back in some shape or form.

Anne Marie, who is a senior inspector at the Pesticides Control Division (PRCD) at the Department of Agriculture, said Ireland has met the target to reduce pesticide use by 50%, but the target to reduce hazardous pesticide use by 50% is still to be met.

Standout figures

The head of the pesticide controls division gave the audience some facts and figures on product registrations.

  • There are currently 425 active substances approved for use on crops.

    • - 74 of these are low-risk and include ingredients like micro-organisms. Ferric phosphate used in slug pellets falls into this category.

    - 26 of these are basic substances like milk and vinegar. These products cannot claim plant protection and do not have a label, but do have guidelines for use.

  • Since 2020, 13 new substances have been approved.

    • - All of these are low-risk active substances and include products like Inatreq a popular fungicide used on winter wheat.

  • 11 active substances have been removed from the Irish market since 2022 (approximately).

    • - These include products like metribuzin (a potato herbicide commonly sold as Sencorex Flow), isopyrazam – (a cereal fungicide which was commonly sold as Bontima) and triflusulfuron-methyl (a popular sugar beet herbicide commonly sold as Debut).

    Regulations since 1990

    Anne Marie noted that plant protection products have been regulated in the EU since the early 1990s.

    These products go through detailed scientific assessment and a rigorous peer review process managed by the European Food Safety Authority before getting to market and not all products go to market.

    Since 1991, 900 active substances have been removed from the register in the EU.