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News Releases Food prices set to soar in wake of EU legislation 12 June 2008 Food prices in the UK are set to reach dramatic new levels if proposed legislation on farming gets the go ahead from the EU Commission later this year. The proposals, which could lead to the loss of 85 per cent of pesticides currently approved for use in the UK, would result in food shortages on the supermarket shelves, a reduction in food quality and the reliance on food imports from beyond Europe, experts say. Furthermore, it is thought that the proposals could lead to wide-scale changes to how the UK countryside is managed, placing a greater threat on the environment. These stark warnings were heard at a Food Chain Forum meeting in London on Friday, organised by leading agricultural charity the British Crop Production Council (BCPC), where delegates, including major food retailers, were told of the likely impact on UK food production should the legislation be implemented. According to James Clarke of agricultural advisory company ADAS, wheat, potato and vegetable crops across the UK would be decimated by disease, weeds and pests, all of which would fail to be adequately controlled by the remaining pesticides available for farmers to use. He said that there would have to be a huge rise in the price of crops – some by as much as 300 per cent – if the option of growing them, rather than abandoning them, were to remain viable. Mr Clarke stressed that fresh food quality, its continuity of supply and its seasonality were in serious danger of being lost if the proposals were implemented. It was also made clear that without a sufficient amount of crops available within the EU, more produce would have to be imported from countries which, ironically, would use the same pesticides on their produce that were banned for use by farmers in the EU. This had implications for food quality, security of supply and carbon footprint, delegates were told. BCPC’s chairman, Colin Ruscoe stated that although pesticides in Europe are already the most highly regulated in the world, the EU’s proposals were made on the basis of their ‘hazardous’ properties, and not on any evidence of health concerns to people. He likened their removal to the banning of everyday items such as petrol, alcohol or even coffee, that can also be dangerous if mis- or over-used. “MEPs should be alerted to these consequences and should ask the European Commissioner for Health for clear evidence that the proposals will improve the health of people, or the environment, and whether they will have a negligible effect on food production. In the absence of any evidence they should demand that a European-wide impact study be carried out,” said Dr Ruscoe.
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