40th Meeting of the Working Party on Plant Protection Products

Flakkebjerg, Slagelse, DK, 2010-05-18/20

 

The 40th Meeting of the Working Party on Plant Protection Products took place in Flakkebjerg on 18-20 May 2010, at the kind invitation of the Department of Integrated Pest Management, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus. There were 14 participants from 13 EPPO countries and ECPA. Special thanks are due to Mr Per Kudsk, who together with his colleagues from the Institute, provided excellent organizational support and arranged a most interesting technical visit. The participants enjoyed the visit to the leading Danish seed producing company whose activities include research, production and sale of cool season grass and clover seeds. As these are minor crops, the visit perfectly coincided with the topic of minor uses, one of the main agenda items of this meeting. In the evening, participants had the opportunity to enjoy wonderful food and wine in a typical old Danish restaurant.

 

This EPPO Working Party directs and supervises the technical work of many EPPO Panels concerned with the registration of plant protection products. The report of the meeting prepared for the EPPO Council and Executive Committee presents in greater detail the discussions, decisions and recommendations which were made by the Working Party; some of major points are summarized here.

 

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EPPO Standards for approval

The Working Party on Plant Protection Products continues to approve a steady flow of new or revised EPPO Standards in series PP1 Efficacy Evaluation of Plant Protection Products. Altogether 2 general and 14 specific standards in the series PP1 and 1 standard in the series PP3 Environmental Risk Assessment Scheme for Plant Protection Products are to be submitted to the Executive Committee and Council of EPPO in September 2010 for definitive approval and publication.

 

The major work has been undertaken in collaboration with the International Commission for Plant-Bee Relationships (ICPBR)- Bee Protection Group on the revision of two EPPO standards on honeybees; one from the series Efficacy Evaluation of Plant Protection Products PP1/170 Side-effects on honeybees and the other PP3/10 from the series Environmental Risk Assessment Scheme for Plant Protection Products, Chapter 10: Honeybees. Both standards have been recommended for approval on the basis that the Secretariat consult the ICPBR-Bee Protection Group to resolve the comments received by EPPO Member Countries.

 

A new general standard Study of unintentional effects of plant protection products on fermentation processes and characteristics of wine was finalized with the help of French, German and ECPA experts. After some discussion the Working Party agreed that a document, which considers the comparability of climatic conditions between geographical areas on a global level, should be published as an EPPO standard and, therefore, recommended it for approval.

 

A new specific standard on efficacy evaluation of fungicides Fungal diseases on cultivated mushroom Agaricus spp. and the following specific standards on efficacy evaluation were approved:

  • PP1/14 Chamaepsila (Psylla) rosae,
  • PP1/115 Aquatic weeds,
  • PP1/137 Weeds in cotton,
  • PP1/138 Weeds in flax and hemp,
  • PP1/140 Weeds in tobacco,
  • PP1/143 Desiccants used for potato,
  • PP1/153 Control of lodging and growth regulation in brassica oil crops,
  • PP1/155 Control of suckers in tobacco,
  • PP1/156 Accelerated ripening of oilseed crops and large-seed legumes,
  • PP1/163 Regulation of growth in Pisum,
  • PP1/164 Sprout suppressants in potato,
  • PP1/189 Reduction of lodging in sunflower.

 

The Working Party acknowledged the progress made on a draft document Guidance on Comparative Assessment, which will be forwarded to the specific Efficacy Evaluation and Resistance Panels.

 

Extrapolation tables for minor uses

The work on preparation of the extrapolation tables for minor uses continues. The extrapolation tables should be used in conjunction with EPPO Standard PP 1/257 Efficacy and crop safety extrapolations for minor uses. The tables provide detailed lists of acceptable extrapolations organized by crop groups for regulatory authorities and applicants in the context of the registration of plant protection products for minor uses. A total of 12 new tables were approved. They address crop groups including Flower bulbs and tuber flower crops, Bulb vegetables, Tree nuts and Bush fruits. 


Based on expert review several amendments were made to the table format in order to improve clarity and assist in the application of these tables.

 

Progress on minor uses

The Working Party held a small minor uses seminar to review current situation regarding the support of minor uses. To facilitate the discussion, the following presentations were given.

 

Udo Heimbach – summarized the recommendations of the 2006 Berlin workshop on Mutual recognition of minor uses

Ann de Cock – summarized the recommendations of the 2009 Brussels workshop on Development of principles for comparative assessment in the framework of substitution with regard to minor uses

Barbara Meijkamp – informed the meeting about lessons learned in the Netherlands regarding minor uses (actions, successes and failures)

Andy Leadbeater – presented the industry view regarding availability of PPPs for minor uses

David Richardson – highlighted the main threats for pest control in minor uses within the current context

Jean-Claude Malet – updated on the prospects and uses of extrapolation tables

 

The Working Party on Plant Protection Products concluded this session by preparing a STATEMENT  expressing their concern about the future of minor uses in Europe. Suggestions were made for activities to address this issue and these were circulated to the EPPO Member Countries and the European Commission for information.

 

Programme of activity

The Working Party re-considered its future activities discussing a possible expansion into other areas of plant protection, namely issues concerning mutual recognition, zonal authorization and core dossier requirements regarding efficacy.

 

The next Working Party meeting is planned to take place in Ireland, 2011-05-24/26.