Members Update

Invitation to Members – High Level Meeting with EU Commission to discuss biocontrol pipeline.

Dear IBMA Members,

Further to the message sent to those attending the AGM, I am reaching out to all IBMA members.

At the IBMA AGM in Basel, we shared the possibility of a meeting with the Deputy Director General of EU COM Claire Bury and some of her Heads of Units from DG Sante.

The meeting has been confirmed for 22 November 3.30 pm in the EU Commission in Brussels in person with the option for additional people to join online for all or part of the meeting.

The aim of the meeting is:

  • to show what biocontrol products/active substances are available in the pipeline for arable crops e.g., wheat, barley and outdoor speciality e.g., vines and on which crops/pests/diseases and
  • timeline for submission and
  • predicted role of the biocontrol in a field programme e.g., if it is a blight product for potatoes would it be expected to replace all blight sprays or just a proportion if so, how many.

This meeting will be a high-level meeting and in the first instance can be oral interventions by companies. Input needs to be from a senior company representative capable of explaining succinctly (ca 5 minutes) what is in the biocontrol pipeline and why, based on business need or impact or ROI. Confidentiality will be assured both with EU COM and between companies; for this reason, companies may be asked to attend only for their intervention. No written documentation needs to be left with the EU COM at this meeting.

If your company has biocontrol under development in arable or outdoor speciality crops or has arable products in other parts of the world e.g., the US and Brazil, which could fit in the EU market but are not being developed in EU because of the uncertain authorisation process, then please contact me and I will explain more about how to engage in the process and possibly join the meeting. Numbers will be limited by the time available.

To those of you to whom I have already spoken and are working on it thank you and I will send you more information as details of the meeting develops.

I believe this is a very significant opportunity for the industry to show the EU COM what we can deliver in arable and what else could be delivered if the authorisation system was more adapted to biocontrol.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best Regards

Jennifer