According to the coalition agreement, plant protection is an important instrument of agricultural production for the CDU, CSU and SPD. Approval procedures for plant protection products are to be made more efficient.
Plant protection amid the conflicting priorities of food security and resource conservation
The agricultural sector in Germany is facing major challenges. A key objective that is also referenced in the coalition agreement is to ensure food security, which is considered an equal priority to competitiveness and resource conservation. In view of climate change, population growth and limited agricultural land, sustainable and efficient food production is becoming increasingly important. Plant protection products play an indispensable role in ensuring the yield and quality of harvests. The CDU, CSU and SPD therefore see the efficient use of plant protection products as an important instrument of agricultural production. According to the coalition agreement, the new federal government will improve the approval situation for plant protection products and ensure transparent, swift and science-based procedures as well as efficiency by streamlining cooperation between authorities. At the same time, the new federal government wants to reduce the scope and risk of plant protection product use, including by incentivising precision farming (e.g. through the use of drones) and integrated plant protection.
Increased efficiency through improved approval procedures
The course of national approval procedures is largely determined by European law. However, there is also the German Plant Protection Act (PflSchG), which contains rules on the implementation of the European provisions and in some cases contains more extensive provisions. In addition, national administrative procedural law applies to administrative action beyond the special European provisions. For example, third-party objections to approvals for plant protection products in Germany have a suspensive effect, with the result that manufacturers of plant protection products cannot take advantage of their approval any more once a third-party objection has been lodged. The legislature would have to tighten the rules here to guarantee greater certainty for manufacturers of plant protection products.
The German Plant Protection Act (PflSchG) also regulates which national authorities must be involved in the approval procedure. Coordination between the authorities to be involved currently takes so long in some cases that the deadlines in the approval procedure set by European law cannot be met. From this perspective, it would be a welcome development if cooperation between the national authorities involved were made much more efficient so that approval procedures could be completed more quickly.
The announced effort to simplify and accelerate the approval procedures for plant protection products would be a decisive step towards optimising the plant protection product market: Issuing approvals faster and making cooperation between the competent authorities more efficient would allow innovative products to be brought to market more quickly.
Funding for precision agriculture and integrated plant protection
The planned funding for precision agriculture and integrated plant protection could, above all, promote resource conservation – and at the same time guarantee food security. The use of modern technologies (such as drones) and integrated plant protection could make the use of plant protection products much more efficient. Manufacturers of plant protection products can capitalise on this trend to open up new market opportunities by developing products that are optimally tailored to the specific requirements of precision agriculture and the environment.
Other relevant points from the coalition agreement
The support for biotechnology planned in the coalition agreement is also relevant for manufacturers of plant protection products. The coalition agreement states that the new federal government will focus on funding research and development around new active ingredients, including in the agricultural sector. New innovative active ingredients would benefit not only manufacturers of plant protection products, but also the environment, as controversial active ingredients could be replaced by newer active ingredients.
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