EU efforts to phase out pesticides posing the greatest danger to human health and the environment have succeeded in removing some 65% of active substances from the market, the European Commission claimed, as new rules came into force this week. At thelatest count, some 353 entries remain on the list of approved substances, compared to around 1 000 in usage before 1993, when the EU launched its efforts to set up the positive list of permitted substances and phase out harmful items. On Tuesday June 14updated rules came into force tightening the authorisation criteria for active substances.Frederic Vincent, European Commission spokesperson for health and consumer affairs, told Agra Europe: "This is an important milestone in the European Union's efforts to remove from the market the most dangerous pesticides and to seek to better combine efficient protection of human health and the environment with the efficient supply of high quality food.
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