The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs  (DEFRA) is considering a project to review the environmental monitoring of pesticides and their impacts after the UK leaves the European Union.

The project will review some of the accepted approaches to the way Defra currently measures the impacts and risks in pesticide use, as well as the ways in which monitoring for those impacts is funded.

According to DEFRA, there is currently “heavy reliance on cross-EU mechanisms” for approval of active substances in plant protection product. The Department said that while this was unlikely to change as the UK leaves the EU, exit does present risks and opportunities.

DEFRA said this requires it to have a clear vision of how it will continue to authorise products to meet the needs of UK agriculture without causing unacceptable impacts on the environment.

The outcomes from the project are intended to inform Natural England’s thinking on environmental monitoring, and environmental monitoring of pesticides in particular.

DEFRA said this would in turn shape its advice on potential policy approaches and contribute to public and stakeholder confidence in authorisation processes into the future.

While the focus at this stage is primarily on plant protection products, there are some overlaps with the way in which biocides, veterinary medicines and pharmaceuticals might impact and be monitored in the terrestrial environment.

It may be possible to extend the scope to some of these products where there are obvious synergies, DEFRA added.

Phase 1 of the project would run to 31 March 2019, followed by Phase 2 which would run to 31 March 2020, subject to funding.

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