EPPO Council Colloquium on strategies for reducing use of plant protection products Lyngby (DK), 1996–09–19

Abstract

The 1996 EPPO Council Colloquium provided an opportunity for European plant protection services to present their alternative strategies for reducing the use of plant protection products. Several countries have set fixed targets for use reduction by certain dates, and have attained many of them. This approach has thus achieved visible success. It has, however, been criticized because use can be measured by different indices, because the real aim should be to reduce risks (to user, consumer and environment), and because it is mainly relevant for countries which have a high level of use in the first place. Other countries try to target their strategies more precisely, particularly by supporting IPM and related approaches. These strategies can be better justified, but it is difficult to assess to what extent they are reducing risks in practice. Yet other countries see the need to use plant protection products more effectively, which does not necessarily imply reducing their use. This is the case particularly for countries which have till recently had moderate levels of use and, in the case of most of central and eastern Europe, have seen this fall sharply in the last few years with the change in economic system. EPPO promotes an approach known as ‘good plant protection practice’, which seeks to use products optimally, within the limits set by the label recommendations on the one hand, and the possibilities for successful IPM on the other.