Pest management, veg prices could rise 104%

A study released on October, 13 by the European Centre for Agricultural, Regional and Environmental Policy Research (EuroCARE) concludes that new legislation being tabled in Brussels setting pest management restrictions will have a profound upward effect on the prices European consumers pay for food. 

 

The legislation will drastically reduce the pest management options available to European farmers and consequently yields will drop steeply, driving up prices. According to the research, should MEPs push ahead with the new legislation set to replace  Directive 91/414/EEC, in the worst case scenario prices for cereals and vegetables could rise by 73% and 104% respectively.  Even the most conservative product-loss scenario examined by the researchers will lead to price increases of at least 20% for key staples such as wheat and potatoes. With such major impacts anticipated, researchers predict that much of European agricultural production could be lost to other Countries, jeopardizing the position of the European Union as a net exporter of key crops. For example, wheat production is likely to increase in USA, Mexico, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine as well as South Africa, China or Australia - as it drops in Europe.

Friedhelm Schmider, director general of the European Crop Protection Association, comments: “EU policymakers haven’t yet considered the full impact of this legislation on the cost of our food.  At a time of heightened concern about economic stability and record food prices, with food riots in some parts of the world, not examining the consequences of this legislation will result in policy disconnected from reality”.