Consumer

No pesticides, motion in the House

January 31, 2019

On 1/28/19 Rossella Muroni, together with other members of the #OndeVerdeECivica movement, presented a motion committing the Italian government to support an agricultural model that is safer for people and the environment, as well as fair. But the ‘government of change,’ what is it up to?

Table of Contents

Health above all else, #NoPesticides

The Group’s online petition ‘

No Pesticides

‘ – which we invite everyone to sign and promote, by following this link
– aims to protect the health of people living in areas close to the spraying areas. (1) In fact, the specific targets of agrotoxics receive only minimal proportion of the poisons intended for them, while the bulk is dispersed into the air and then contaminates water, soil, living things and their shelters.

Prenatal exposure to pesticides results in the loss of 13 million intelligence quotient (IQ) points and 59,300 cases of mental retardation each year, according to a 2015 European study. In addition to abortions, malformations and premature births, there are 258,000 deaths and more than 26 million cases of poisoning each year(UN data).

Pesticide consumption in Italy, per unit of Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA), is 2.4 times higher than the European average. (2) It is therefore not surprising to learn of their multi-residuation in 1/3 of groundwater and 2/3 of surface water (ISPRA data, National Pesticides in Water Report, 2018′ edition). Water you see, poison you find.

Nowadays it is the glyphosate to lead the case history of exceedances of environmental quality standards (EQS) in surface waters (nearly 1 in 2 cases). Neonicotinoids, a cause of extermination of pollinating insects, and various others are added. The overall impact of which – in terms of the ‘cocktail effect’ – still eludes the analyses of ‘risk assessors’. Non-knowledge is certainly the most convenient solution for those who would otherwise have to deal with and manage risk, at the cost of pitting themselves against the strong powers.

#NoPesticides, Muroni motion.

The motion tabled in the House calls on the government to take steps, in Italy and the EU, with the goal of banning the use of pesticides such as glyphosate in agriculture in particular. (3)

A ‘safety belt’ must exclude the risk of chemical contamination of biological crops, homes and spaces used by the population. The latter must be given advance notice of any treatment.

The government is also asked to adopt proposals to promote the development and competitiveness of organic production, starting with the revision of the national action plan (NAP) for the sustainable use of plant protection products.

It is then essential to ensure uniformity of water sampling methods across Italy’s 20 regions, given the continuing shortage of data from the South.

For sustainable agriculture. Press conference 28.1.19, House of Representatives

Rossella Muroni, MP for LeU, presented the motion in the Press Room of the Chamber of Deputies. He was joined by Marco Affronte (Green MEP), Daniela Sciarra (agri-food chain manager of Legambiente), Maria Grazia Mammuccini (spokesperson for the Cambia la Terra coalition) and Daniela Altera (administrator of the FB group No Pesticides), among others.

Marco Affronte

provided a useful update on the recent renewal

Of the glyphosate authorization. (4) The Green Group, in this Europe of serial traitors to the common good, was the only one to appeal the Commission’s decision to the EU Court of Justice. The decision is expected in March.

Daniela Sciarra highlighted the importance of considering the synergistic effect of substances in the National Action Plan (NAP) on pesticides. The NAP must introduce pesticide-free areas and include precise reduction targets. To help farmers, including through special training, to pursue an agro-ecological approach.

Maria Grazia Mammuccini pointed out that although the FAO has called for a change in the agricultural model, 97 percent of European public CAP subsidies go to conventional agriculture. The situation needs to be brought back into balance by promoting organic crops instead of funding polluters.

Daniela Altera reported that the petition of the ‘No Pesticides’ Group has exceeded 27 thousand signatures. We need to start right from the revision of the NAP, inserting safety distances and requirements for residents to give notice before any spraying of poisons. A simple and reasoned, indisputable starting point.

Pesticides, the government of #change for the worse

The

‘

government of change

‘ betrayed his promises to protect the environment and public health just months after taking office. Introducing the green light for the use of toxic sludge in agriculture. A poisonous morsel within the so-called ‘Genoa Decree,’ which if not repealed soon will turn the Bel Paese into a huge ‘land of fires’. Shame!

The M5S/Lega-led Ministry of Health then authorized the marketing of the herbicide BENTA 480 SL, 48% Bentazone, for use on corn and rice. (5) A jump back more than 30 years. (6) Bentazone, an ancient protagonist of rice-field weed control, had been banned for its toxicity in 1987, during the time of the First Republic. And it is still one of the most prevalent residues in Italian waters.

Draft EU guidelines for assessing honey bee health risks associated with pesticide exposure are now being defiled by member state government representations. Vanishing the research carried out by Efsa in 2013, which led to the ban in 2017 of three neonicotinoids responsible for massacres of pollinating insects (imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam). (7)

Alternatives to agrotoxics exist, But the political will is absent. In the Italy of change in the land of fires, as in Frau Merkel’s Germany. Where the evidence of risks has always been denied. associated with glyphosate, betraying the delegation received from the Commission to monitor these risks. And in Macron’s France, which on 24.1.19 reneged on its decision to ban glyphosate, announced just 2 months earlier (27.11.17). Even the

gilets jaunes

Will they be treated with RoundUp?

Égalité!

Dario Dongo and Giulia Torre

Notes

(2) In Europe, an average of 3.8 kilograms of pesticides are consumed per hectare, in Italy as much as 5.7

(3) Here is the text of the motion

https://aic.camera.it/aic/scheda.html?numero=1-00100&ramo=C&leg=18

(4) While the California Superior Court upheld the conviction.

https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/glifosate-confermata-la-condanna-di-monsanto-in-usa

against Monsanto to a $289 million settlement for concealing legal health hazards to the herbicide, the special PEST pesticide commission was formed in Europe, established after the scandals of EFSA and BfR copy-paste documents of Monsanto’s own opinions. In its resolution, the PEST committee called for more transparency in the substance authorization process, which must be based on independent scientific evidence and studies

(5) See executive decree Min. Sal. 5.12.18, on http://www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/renderFitoPdf?codleg=67112&anno=2018&parte=1

(6) The active ingredient has been given the green light by the European Commission although-according to the Parliament’s earlier inference-its harmful impact on human and animal health, groundwater and the environment cannot be ruled out. Renewal of the Bentazone approval came with reg. EU 2018/660.

See in this regard the resolution of the European Parliament

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+TA+P8-TA-2016-0443+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN

(7) V.

https://www.huffingtonpost.it/federica-ferrario/primavera-silenziosa-2-0-fregatura-in-arrivo_a_23651402/?ncid=other_facebook_eucluwzme5k&utm_campaign=share_facebook&fbclid=IwAR0DqHa8d2SDBvgh42qTLk-E1xWn7rF0GN2W6abFueFO8wkDSmcvNlHNYqQ