HEAL has sent a letter to EU member states Permanent Representatives regarding the ongoing negotiations between the Council, Parliament and Commission on the revision of the EU Toy Safety Regulation.
Exposure to pesticides in our food, air, drinking water, and the wider environment is linked to illnesses such as cancer, heart, respiratory and neurological diseases as well as infertility issues. Scientific reports have shown how early life exposure to pesticides can harm children’s healthy development and disrupt the body’s natural hormone system
In 2017, the societal costs on a European scale directly attributable to pesticides were around €2.3 billion.
In 2022, over a million EU citizens have called for a pesticide phase-out through the Save Bees and Farmers European Citizen Initiative and are still awaiting a response with actions from the European Commission. Various Eurobarometer surveys demonstrate the overwhelming support among Europeans for significantly reducing pesticide use.
Following on the EU Commission’s Farm to Fork commitment to reduce the use of chemical pesticides and the most hazardous pesticides by 50% by 2030, the Final Report of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture also recommends that pesticide use be reduced.
85 organisations including HEAL have in January 2025 published a roadmap for a pesticide phase-out: “A swift and just transition to phase out pesticides and safeguard biodiversity and people’s health must remain a top priority for the new European Commission. This goal should be central to the EU’s Vision for Agriculture and Food, which is expected on 19 February 2025.”
The organisations call for
- The full implementation of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive 2009/128/EC
- The full implementation of Pesticide Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009
- Adequate indicators and pesticide data to measure pesticide use and risk
- Support for farmers and farm workers in the transition
“Measures to reduce pesticide use in the EU cannot be delayed – the health of current and future generations is at stake. We ask the European Commission to make sure that its upcoming Vision for Agriculture and Food includes a clear plan for pesticide phase-out.” Iiris Lamminmaki, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer, at HEAL
Read the full statement A Roadmap for a Pesticide Phase-Out FullVersion.
Read the summary here A Roadmap for a Pesticide Phase-Out Summary