IBMA attends Biopesticides Working Group meeting

IBMA participated in the Biopesticides Working Group meeting organised by DG SANTE on 10-11 June 2024. We gave 6 presentations that shared IBMA positions and contributions to various topics of concern for the industry. We also responded to DG SANTE initiatives such as the new provisions on microbial consortia. IBMA presented the ZAPID outcomes and […]

IBMA at 2024 Salinas Biological Summit

Jennifer Lewis, IBMA Executive Director was invited by Western Growers to speak on a regulatory panel about the European regulatory situation, alongside US Environmental Protection Agency, Terry Stone, Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency and regulatory specialists from Latin America. It is notable that the bottlenecks due to lack of evaluation resources (money and skills) for […]

Conclusions from the Belgian Presidency on the future of agriculture in Europe 

During the AGRIFISH Council meeting on 24 June, a consensus was not reached among Member States regarding the ‘Council Conclusions on the Future of Agriculture.’ Out of 27 Member States, 25 supported the text, with Romania (RO) opposing and Slovenia (SL) abstaining. Both RO and SL criticized the ‘external convergence’ clause within the Common Agricultural […]

IBMA meeting with European Commission Secretariat General  

Following its Strategy Council Day in June, IBMA met civil servants of the European Commission Secretariat General working on the coordination of Green Deal policies where we underlined the need for the next European Commission (EC) to prioritize biocontrol in the coming Work Programme. We referred to the relevant outcomes of the last mandate for […]

IBMA Belgium presents at Farming Without Harming: Policy Action for Resilient Agriculture 

Following the first AGM of IBMA Belgium, Raffael Buonatesta ( former) IBMA Belgium Chair and CEO of Fytofend spoke at an event hosted by Pesticide Action Network Europe, Friends of the Earth Europe, the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility and Agroecology Europe to discuss ways forward for resilient agriculture. The event […]

AGRIFISH AOB on biotechnologies including biocontrol | IBMA Input to the EU Biotech Biomanufacturing Initiative

At the AGRIFISH meeting on May 27, the discussion centered on biotechnology, with a particular emphasis on biocontrol, following a Danish AOB document.  The European Commission’s (EC) Biotech and Biomanufacturing Communication, Member States (MSs) Plant Protection Products/ biocontrol were mentioned in line with the DK AOB document.   Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, France, and the Netherlands, […]

What Europe can learn from Brazil, a biocontrol powerhouse

Following joint calls with farmers organizations to speed up access to biocontrol, IBMA invited Copa Cogeca and IFOAM Organics Europe to meet with Carlos Goulart, Secretary of Animal and Plant Health of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil to learn more about the Brazilian experience with biocontrol.  The Plant Health Attaché, Permanent Representation […]

Biocontrol at IPM Works and IPM Decisions events

IPM Works European Policy and Stakeholders’ seminar “Boosting IPM implementation in the EU”  Held on 13 May, this European Policy Seminar aimed to engage key agri-food stakeholders in identifying tools, methods and practices to increase the implementation of IPM and reduce pesticides use in the EU.  Hosted by European Stakeholders, the session covered why Integrated […]

Why Europe’s biodiversity, farmers and food security cannot wait another decade.

The theme of the International Day of Biological Diversity 2024 is Be Part of the Plan. As farmers urge policymakers for a plan to speed up access to biocontrol, we ask – can Europe’s biodiversity, farmers and food security wait another decade? When biodiversity has a problem, agriculture has a problem Unsustainable pest control practices […]