This past Friday, AHDB in the UK issued a statement titled “CIPC decision looms – here’s how you can access support”, published on its website.
AHDB states: “We understand that on 11 April 2019 the European Union’s Health and Food Safety Directorate-General Appeal Committee could not reach a sufficient majority to support the European Food Standard Agency’s (EFSA’s) recommendation to withdraw CIPC’s approval for use both as a herbicide and as a sprout suppressant.”
The decision will now be made by the EU Commission itself. The Chlorpropham Task Force, which is made up of the companies who hold approvals to distribute CIPC, today (12 April) released a statement stating they expect the commission to uphold EFSA’s recommendation to withdraw CIPC’s approval – meaning, “as we have been reporting at winter events, this season would be the last we can use CIPC.”
An official announcement is expected by early summer, but AHDB says it is of the understanding that there is likely to be a ‘use-up’ period of at least 12 months announced, and that there will be approval to use CIPC during the 2019-20 storage season, at the same dosage rates as last season.
In January AHDB announced an £800,000 fund for research, events and support for store managers. Here are the key points:
- Events held across the country this winter
- Expanded research programme
- Network to work with external industry advisors
- Resources and publications collated in new storage hub
Discover more from Potato News Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
