ECONOMY-EGYPT: New EU Controls Threaten Farmers

By Cam McGrath Reprint | | Print |

Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Feb 12 2003 (IPS) - New pesticide controls are set to make it harder for Egyptian farmers to export to the European Union.

"New European Union (EU) legislation is banning about 500 ingredients," says Salwa Dogheim, director of the government-run Central Lab for Residue Analysis of Pesticides and Heavy Metals in Food (CLRA). "This has created a big problem for Egyptian exports because most of those pesticides are still used in our country."

The EU began a review of maximum residue levels (MRLs) of 823 pesticide ingredients in 1993. It has phased out 20 of them, and will withdraw 320 in July. Another 150 ingredients are due to be banned later this year, officials say.

"This will represent a loss in 2003 of more than 60 per cent of all the substances that were on the market in 1993," the EU says in a statement. The move aims to ensure that all active ingredients are "safe for the environment and human health," the EU says.

Dozens of shipments of agricultural produce to European countries could be turned away when the new MRLs go into effect. "Rejection of one or two shipments a year is nothing, but when it is 10 or 15, it becomes a problem, and we have to act," Dogheim told IPS.

The CLRA analyses export produce using a test capable of detecting 82 commonly used pesticides. Fruits and vegetables are tested only on the exporter’s request. But many ask for it because refusal at the destination can mean a substantial loss.

Egypt sets its own limits on pesticide residues based on Codex, the guidelines set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "Food products that would pass under Codex will not pass under the new EU regulations," says Dogheim.

Laboratory records indicate that 64.9 per cent of fruit samples tested last year showed no trace of pesticide, while 33 per cent had levels within Codex limits. Vegetables were even cleaner, with 84.9 per cent free of pesticides and 12.3 per cent showing traces within acceptable limits. Only 2.1 per cent of fruits and 2.8 per cent of vegetables exceeded the limits.

Under new EU regulations those samples would result in violations for 19.8 per cent of fruits and for 11.5 per cent of vegetables.

"As a developing country, we use pesticides that are cheap and that we have experience of using," says Dogheim. These are the very pesticides the EU is banning, he says.

Egyptian farmers used nearly 5,000 tonnes of pesticide last year. About 70 per cent was imported, 90 per cent of it from Europe.

Farmers groups say the new EU regulations are not about health safety but a way to secure bigger profits for European pesticide producers. Most of the active ingredients being banned are found in older pesticides manufactured in developing countries. Most of these are off patent.

"These pesticides also tend to be cheaper and more widely available, and hence widely used in developing countries," says Man-Kwun Chan, social development specialist at the National Resources Institute in Britain.

"Growers of tropical, sub-tropical and out-of-season fruit and vegetables are being particularly hard hit by the legislation because most active ingredients they use are likely to be phased out," says Man-Kwun Chan.

Egyptian farmers say the new legislation will make it difficult for small producers to enter the lucrative European market. "The pesticides I use are manufactured here in Egypt," says a Cairo farmer. "They are safe and effective. Why should I change to imported pesticide that is more expensive?"

Egyptian producers should try now to use a greater variety of pesticides, but in smaller doses to keep the residue below the MRL, he says.

Larger producers have reported less difficulty in adjusting to new requirements. A spokesman for Pico, Egypt’s largest exporter of grapes and strawberries, says it received adequate warning of the new MRLs, and they have meant no significant impact on business.

"They (EU) sent delegations here and we followed up strictly on their regulations," says export manager Farouk Kandil. "We are in the European market and have no problems there."

The new EU regulations leave Egypt with an estimated 2,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides. Much of this is likely to be added to 590 tonnes of pesticides already marked for incineration.

"We are now collecting all such pesticides," says Khalil el-Malky, director of the Central Administration for Pesticide Control. "We will send it to a cement factory that burns pesticides in an oven to convert into safe gases."