India and 16 other countries complain at WTO for reviewing maximum pesticide residues in EU
New EU regulations tighten the entry barrier to traditional pesticide-based agricultural products.
India and sixteen other countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and the United States, have filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) about the EU’s decision to change its policy on maximum residue levels (MRLs) for a wide range of pesticides, mainly used in growing citrus and banana.
Countries raised this issue at a meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures on 7-8 November in Geneva and emphasized that the new EU requirements were not backed up by science.
“Seventeen countries that spoke out against the EU's lower MRLs argued that the EU followed a reinsurer's position in its decisions and ignored scientific evidence presented by relevant international organizations recognized by the Committee,” the source told BusinessLine.
Seventeen countries that have jointly expressed their concern include Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Panama and Paraguay. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, United States and Uruguay also protested.
(Source: www.freshplaza.com).