Open letter to German ministries: Farm to Fork Strategy at risk
Updated: Dec 13, 2021
BeeLife together with other NGOs sent an open letter to German ministries to support the SAIO (Statistics on Agricultural Input and Output) reform, to ensure transparency for effective pesticide reduction.
The letter states the following
The current EU reform of the Statistics on agricultural input and output (SAIO) is of great importance.
Without the recording of actual pesticide use in agriculture; through relevant, reliable and publicly accessible data, a pesticide reduction strategy can hardly be implemented in a meaningful way, as there is no reference value.
The Slovenian Presidency plans to finalise the Council position before the end of its term. This
could take place as early as next Friday, 10 December within the framework of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA).
In order to ensure that the Commission's proposal meets the expectations of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, the following aspects also need to be integrated:
the collection of data not only on pesticides but also on biocides and veterinary medicines used in agriculture;
legal guarantees for the publication of data on pesticide use at a meaningful level of detail (i.e. per active ingredient, product, crop/species, year and at the geographical level of a local management unit);
Full and easy access to the underlying raw data for European and national authorities responsible for the protection of public health and the environment (in line with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, as farmers' records are not collected exclusively for statistical purposes).
Without adequate systems to collect and publish such data, the goals set in the EU Farm to Fork Strategy are empty political promises. This lack of transparency would undoubtedly lead to a loss of trust in society.
You can download the open letter (in German) here.
Our open letter was successful!
After the letter, the new German minister of agriculture declared that they will vote against the draft, stating the following:
"Zielerreichung der #FarmToFork-Strategie muss systematisch überprüf- u. messbar sein. Übermittlung der Daten zur Anwendung von Pflanzenschutzmitteln nur alle 5 Jahre ist für BM @cem_oezdemir nicht akzeptabel. Deutschland wird deshalb gegen den vorliegenden Entwurf stimmen."
"Achievement of the #FarmToFork strategy must be systematically verifiable and measurable. Transmission of data on the use of plant protection products only every 5 years is not acceptable to BM @cem_oezdemir. Germany will therefore vote against the current draft."