Pesticides: Italian doctors and paediatricians warn that simplification must not undermine health protection

Brussels – Italian paediatricians and environmental doctors are sounding the alarm over the Food and Feed Safety Omnibus, the package to simplify EU food and feed regulations, ahead of the vote in the European Parliament’s Environment (ENVI) and Agriculture (AGRI) committees, scheduled for 5 October. In a letter to Italian MEPs and the Ministers for Health, Agriculture and the Environment, Stefania Manetti, president of the Paediatricians’ Cultural Association (ACP), Roberto Romizi, president of ISDE Italia, and Christine Magendie, president of the European Confederation of Primary Care Paediatricians (ECPCP), express “deep concern” regarding certain provisions of the text. “Simplifying procedures is a legitimate objective, but it cannot mean reducing health protection or limiting the possibility of using the best and most up-to-date scientific evidence,” they write. 

The main areas of concern are the abolition of the periodic re-evaluation of pesticides, possible exemptions for hazardous substances, and the extension of grace periods for already banned pesticides. According to the signatories, these changes could delay the incorporation of new scientific knowledge into regulatory decisions. Particular attention is being paid to endocrine disruptors, substances that can alter the hormonal system and are associated with reproductive, metabolic and neurodevelopmental effects. 

The signatories are therefore calling for the mandatory periodic re-evaluation of pesticides to be maintained, for exemptions and excessively long grace periods to be rejected, and for regulatory decisions to be based on “the best and most up-to-date scientific evidence available,” in accordance with the precautionary principle. The call follows the Council meeting on 14 September. “The health of present and future generations must remain at the heart” of European policies on food and pesticides, they conclude.