As of: January 29, 2024, 8:18 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety has revoked approval for two important pesticides.
This means that these substances may no longer be used from summer onwards.
Berlin/Brussels – A few days ago, the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) announced that the approval of a number of pesticides would be revoked this year.
Specifically, this concerns pesticides that contain the active ingredient S-metolachlor.
Agricultural companies primarily use this active ingredient to combat weeds in corn fields.
Syngenta pesticides now banned in Germany
Five pesticides containing S-metolachlor have so far been approved in Germany, all of which must be sold and used up by July 23, 2024.
After that, their use is prohibited.
The products with the following names are affected:
Dual gold
EFICA 960 EC
Innoprotect Dual Gold
Gardo Gold
Primagram Gold
The background is an EU-wide ban on the active ingredient, which was decided in December 2023.
The EU came to the conclusion that S-metolachlor can reach groundwater and regularly exceeds the limit values there.
The EU has also found that the active ingredient can cause poisoning, particularly in mammals that eat earthworms.
Whether the pesticides are carcinogenic could not be conclusively determined, but neither could it be ruled out.
Umwelthilfe has sued against pesticides
All affected products come from the production of the agricultural company Syngenta.
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), together with the Foodwatch organization, filed two lawsuits against the company last year in order to force the substances to be banned in Germany.
The DUH is also suing in Germany against the controversial pesticide glyphosate.
A forager drives through a corn field during harvest.
© Jens Büttner/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
The approval of S-Metolachlor actually expired in 2015, but according to the DUH it was repeatedly extended without a new risk assessment.
It was not until 2023 that a risk assessment took place, which led to the active ingredient not being extended.