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		EU pesticide rules will slash crop yields Wednesday, 9th July 2008 The European Parliament is planning to ban a wide range of popular herbicides and pesticides currently used in agriculture. This is despite no actual evidence of harm from these products. The UK already has high standards of control of agricultural chemicals, and according to the NFU the new proposals would cause dramatic production losses without any improvement in safety. The government’s prestigious Pesticide Safety Directorate (PSD) has published a damning report on the proposals, saying that it would reduce the availability of pesticides by 85%. Meantime, ADAS (an independent, science-based environmental and rural consultancy) predicts in a recent report that reductions in yields could be as high as 50% -- which would devastate British and European farmers. This comes at a time when world food supplies are shifting into shortage, food prices are rocketing and food security is under threat. East Midlands MEP Roger Helmer, who has been briefed on the issue by the National Farmers’ Union, is working to oppose the legislation. He says: “This is possibly one of the most damaging pieces of legislation the Parliament has tried to pass. It will do huge damage to British farmers, and force further food price rises”. Mr Helmer goes on to say: “Another consequence of the legislation will be the wholesale transfer of food production, and agricultural jobs, out of the EU altogether, to foreign jurisdictions with much lower environmental standards. Good local food will be replaced by imports with lower standards and higher pesticide residues. The legislation is going forward to its second reading over the next few weeks, and the government along with the PSD and NFU are all pressing for amendments to limit the damage. Mr Helmer concludes: “I hope that other MEPs realise how important this is for farming as well as the consumer and that they will vote against this new measure”.