The CropLife UK report also complains that, for pesticides that are still approved in both the EU and the UK, the EU has prohibited a number of uses that continue to be permitted in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, it notes that the EU has banned the use of the controversial weedkiller glyphosate<\/a> as a \u201cpre-harvest dessicant<\/a>\u201d which means spraying it on edible crops to dry them out and speed up harvest. In the UK this practice is still allowed.<\/p>\n Similarly, it notes that the EU will only allow the insecticide etoxazole to be used on ornamental plants, which are not grown to be eaten, whereas in the UK it can still be used on tomatoes and aubergines.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unearthed found<\/a> that in the EU this chemical is classified as bioaccumulative (meaning it can build up in living organisms) and toxic, and its use on food crops was prohibited because there were outstanding questions about consumer safety and the \u201cuncertainties are too high\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A \u2018huge blow\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n CropLife UK is calling on the government<\/a> to deliver \u201ca managed approach to alignment, and reject any scenario that does not respect legitimately made GB decisions\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the report, \u201cmanaged alignment\u201d means there would be \u201clittle or no change\u201d to British pesticide rules in the \u201cearly years of the SPS agreement\u201d. Pesticides that are not approved in the EU would remain approved in the UK until they could be assessed \u201cunder EU processes, at which point a common decision would apply\u201d.<\/p>\n However, experts and campaigners told Unearthed that they did not think CropLife UK\u2019s proposal was in line with the \u201ccommon understanding\u201d that was agreed at a UK\/EU summit last May \u2013 and that the UK attempting to negotiate this position could imperil the SPS deal.<\/p>\n