AgroPages-EU renews copper compounds with use restriction-Agricultural news

The European Commission has renewed approval of the active substances copper compounds, as a candidate for substitution. But only uses resulting in a total application of maximum 28 kg of copper per hectare over a period of 7 years shall be authorised.

For the implementation of the uniform principles, the conclusions of the review report on copper compounds shall be taken into account.

In their overall assessment Member States shall pay particular attention to:

- the operator, worker and bystander safety and ensure that conditions of use prescribe the application of adequate personal protective equipment and other mitigation measures as appropriate;

- the protection of water and non-target organisms. In relation to these identified risks, risk mitigation measures, such as buffer zones, shall be applied where appropriate;

- the amount of active substance applied and ensure that the authorised amounts, in terms of rates and number of applications, do not exceed the minimum necessary to achieve the desired effects and do not cause any unacceptable effect on the environment taking into account background levels of copper at the application site, and, where the information is available, copper input from other sources. Member States may in particular decide to set a maximum annual application rate not exceeding 4 kg/ha of copper.