The EU pesticide regulation does not allow substances that are proven to be carcinogens, reprotoxic substances, and endocrine disruptors. However, the regulation provides a theoretical exception if exposure is ‘negligible’. This means that their use in pesticide products should lead to no human contact and non-detectable residues in food.
For years, the European Commission and Member States have struggled to establish a common understanding of how this strict regulatory provision should be applied in risk assessment; while companies were referring to this derogation in an attempt to get their substances approved. These differences led to work being halted in 2015 before being relaunched in 2021. Despite this renewed effort, significant problems persist in the draft guidance document shared with select stakeholders at the end of 2024.
PAN Europe finds that the draft guidance still fails to uphold the hazard-based approach required by Regulation 1107/2009. While it clarifies that certain outdoor uses of such pesticides should not be considered to result in negligible exposure, it introduces loopholes that could allow hazardous substances to be approved under misleading assumptions of negligible exposure. It also promotes an approach that assumes that there are safe levels of exposure for “cut-off” substances, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Therefore, PAN Europe calls for a thorough revision of the guidance to ensure full alignment with the precautionary principle and the strict cut-off criteria, effectively protecting both humans and non-target organisms from hazardous pesticides.