AGRIFISH Council – AOB on harmonised terminology of Biological Control

The AOB on biocontrol took place on 10 December. Both the document related and the recording are available online, along with the different interventions from Member States. 

In summary, this AOB calling for a harmonized definition, as per Germany and Denmark’s AOB proposal, was supported by the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Portugal, Ireland, Lithuania, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and France during their interventions.  

Not all countries intervened on the point. 

Furthermore, we can note Commissioner Varhelyi took the floor underlining: 

• Biocontrol can provide solutions to the issues that farmers face protecting plants from pests.   
• This is not new to farmers and especially organic farmers that have already been using these alternatives such as microorganisms and plant extracts. Biocontrol companies often complain that bringing products to market takes too much time.  
• In the Strategic dialogue report, there is clear call for a robust framework for biocontrol products.  
• The suggested measures include fast track authorisation for biocontrol and an increased in national capacities and expertise to handle applications for these products.  
• Over past years, EC has made improvements and will continue to work on further simplification in these areas, creating further incentives to have alternatives fully available to farmers.