After three years of wrangling, the European Union (EU) is expected next month to finally approve controversial legislation to regulate pesticide use. Early drafts of the law drew protest from manufacturers, farmers and scientists, who claimed that a drastic reduction in the number of available pesticides would lower crop yields and raise food prices.
The compromise ruling backed last week by the European Parliament will result in just 23 of the roughly 500 marketed pesticides being banned, according to the Swedish Chemicals Agency.
The directive also promotes the use of non-chemical pest-control methods, bans aerial crop spraying without authorization and curbs pesticide use in areas such as parks and playgrounds. Once approved, the ruling must be incorporated into the national laws of all member states by 2011.
Additional information
For a longer version of this story, see http://tinyurl.com/7d6zvt.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Europe set to clamp down on pesticide use. Nature 457, 371 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/457371f
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/457371f
