The World Bioprotection Forum has put forward a series of recommendations for reforming the authorisation process for biopesticides in a new ‘white paper’ aimed at influencing the current post-Brexit review of UK pesticide regulation.
It believes reforms are possible as part of the government’s Brexit Freedoms Bill which includes provisions to improve regulation and ‘nurture green technologies’.
“Lengthy, complicated and often unsuitable regulatory requirements can delay the availability of new biological products for many years,” said forum chairman Minshad Ansari. “We need a sensible risk assessment process that nurtures our sector and allows innovation to flourish.”
Sarah Harding, communications adviser to the forum and one of the white paper’s authors, said it was vital regulators finally accept the fact biological products are not conventional chemical pesticides.
“In our discussions to date, stakeholders from across the bioprotection sector, including policymakers in the UK, have been extremely positive about the need for change, and open to talks that we hope will lead to a world-leading biopesticide/bioprotectant regulatory system,” she said.
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