Persistence pays on pesticides
The European Parliament has voted to drop some of the most contentious and potentially damaging aspects of the proposed "Thematic Strategy on the sustainable use of Pesticides", following many months of lobbying by the NFU.
At the Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg yesterday, MEPs voted to reject a series of proposals from the Parliament's Environment Committee, any one of which could have severely hampered the productive capacity of British farming, at a time when that is more important to the country than for many years.
These included: an EU-wide 50 per cent cut in pesticide use over the next ten years; introduction of a pesticides tax; compulsory notification of neighbours prior to spraying taking place; and compulsory ten metre buffer strips when spraying alongside watercourses.
NFU Deputy President, Meurig Raymond, who was in Strasbourg to lobby MEPs in the run-up to the voting, hailed the outcome as a victory for practicality over prejudice.
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