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Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 10:00
Shoppers could face higher food prices if the new controls are passed as farmers will see crop yields slashed.
Defra officials believe the new pesticides will "remove important pesticides from the market".
The move would have a "significant adverse impact on crop protection, but secure no significant health benefits for consumers".
In particular, the proposals could prevent the use of certain fungicides and result in substantially lower wheat yields, possibly even 30 per cent below current levels.
Farming minister Lord Rooker is adamant fungicides should not be banned before alternatives are approved.
He told the WMN the rules were "barmy" and he would be urging other European countries to block the measure.
The opposition has to come from across the continent to ensure that it is "not just Britain whingeing", he said.
The controversy centres on the types of chemicals which Brussels wants to remove. They include banning substances which have "endocrine disrupting properties" that could cause adverse effect in humans.
However, the public is already exposed to such substances through prescribed drugs, meat, peas and beans and products like soya milk.
The Government insists withdrawing these pesticides is likely to cause "significant agronomic and economic damage" but not lead to any significant loss in overall consumer exposures to endocrine disruptors.
In the autumn, the plan will be formally adopted as the common position of the European Council and passed to the European Parliament for the second reading.
Defra ministers hope pressure from national governments can force a change of heart.
Scientists have raised serious concerns about the directive. Dr Bill Parker, an entomologist with the agricultural consultancy Adas, told BBC News: "If you start to reduce the number of tools in the armoury – not just for pests, but for weeds and diseases as well – then that actually makes the business of food production much more risky.
"It doesn't necessarily mean we are going to have food shortages overnight, but in due course and in certain years we could well end up in the situation where the harvest for one particular type of crop in one particular year could be very severely compromised."
Anti-pesticide campaigners are adamant a crackdown on the use of pesticides is needed to protect public health.
Georgina Downs, from UK Pesticides Campaign, says the new measures "must not be watered down by industry lobbying".
Paul Chambers, the plant health advisor at the National Farmers' Union, warned: "Pesticide usage is already very strictly controlled in the UK and the industry has taken the lead in adopting voluntary measures like sprayer testing and training to further raise standards."
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