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2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MAY 2022 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This comes in the wake of a damning European Commission audit report, which says that the effectiveness of controls on pes- ticide use in Malta is negatively impacted by the lack of access to a laboratory with a capacity for "formulation analysis". The report revealed that no formulation analysis was car- ried out since the last EC audit in 2005, which had also de- nounced the absence of labora- tory testing. in 2020, some 10% of samples taken from domestically-grown products revealed exceedances of maximum pesticide residue levels in treated crops (MRL), while in 2019 these were almost 15%. This is much higher than the average level of MRL exceed- ances in the EU for products, which amounted to 2.7%. According to the audit, the absence of a designated labo- ratory for formulation analyses not only limits the scope of of- ficial controls, but also makes it "impossible" for the competent authorities to confirm that pes- ticides placed on the market are compliant with the authorisa- tion requirements. A call for tenders to identify and designate a laboratory for such a purpose was issued in July 2021. However, there was no interest from any laborato- ries in the EU, and therefore the tender had to be republished in September 2021. The EC au- dit also reprimanded the Malta Competition and Consumers Affairs Authority for not taking court action against widespread misuse of pesticides. "The Authority has to date focused on high-risk areas, and since the audit, has updated its activities to cover other cate- gories of users in line with the audit recommendations," the MCCAA spokesperson replied. The spokesperson also referred to key initiatives undertaken in the past months including "a re- cent overhaul of the Authority's inspection framework". In fact the Audit report says that Malta has in place a strong system that can support the implementation of the official controls. The MC- CAA has also strengthened the quality and availability of train- ing programmes for profession- al users of pesticides. Pesticide residue alarm The European Commission's audit revealed that in 2020, some 10% of samples taken from domestically-grown prod- ucts had exceedances of maxi- mum pesticide residue levels in treated crops (MRL), while in 2019, the exceedance rate was almost 15%. This is much higher than the average level of MRL exceed- ances in the EU for products, which amounted to 2.7%. One reason for this is that due to economies of scale, a number of EU-compliant pesticides are not even registered in Malta, MaltaToday has learnt. According to the MCCAA's spokesperson work is ongoing to improve farmers' access to "a variety of pesticides with the objective of supporting better MRL results". Maltese farmers who are al- ready facing existential chal- lenges as local markets are swamped with foreign produce and more land is lost to devel- opment, have taken umbrage at what they see as "unfair com- parisons." Speaking on behalf of Ghaqda Bdiewa Attivi, agribusiness ex- pert Malcolm Borg described the comparison between pes- ticide residue in Maltese crops and European ones as "an unfair comparison". Borg noted that the average EU level of minimum residue (2.7%) takes into account prod- ucts which are not produced in Malta and are "very low risk" when it comes to pesticide res- idues, due to both agronomic reasons or subsequent handling processes. This is because such residues do not accumulate eas- ily on products like linseeds, cassava roots, rice, currants, which are widely grown in the EU but not in Malta. "This lowers the overall EU average and, for this reason, it is unfair to compare Malta's results of residues on fresh pro- duce with such average," Borg said. Why does Malta have a pesticide problem? The audit by the EU's Food Veterinary Office denounced a high level of non-compliance with regards to the sale of un- authorised pesticides. In fact, 47% and 43% of the products randomly checked in 2019 and 2020 respectively were not even authorised. But according to Borg it is the small size of the Maltese mar- ket, which is the root cause of this problem. For whenever the European Union decides to ban a specific pesticide from the market, local distributors end up with stockpiles of the banned product because it is very diffi- cult to sell it in a short period, simply because Maltese farmers use small quantities of products due to very limited areas of cul- tivation. Moreover, when a farmer pur- chases a product to control a particular pest on a particular crop, such a product lasts a very long time and hence it would not need to be repurchased fre- quently. "Subsequently, the distributor finds it increasingly difficult to get rid of this stocked prod- uct since purchases by farmers would be few and far between," Borg explained. Moreover pesticide manufac- turers often decide not to regis- ter their new products in Malta due to its small market. "So we are ending up having pesticides banned by the European Union but nothing to replace them with in Malta," Borg said. Borg considers this to be very unfair with Maltese farmers that end up with no options in their arsenals to control various pests whereas their competitors in other EU countries have the luxury of choosing from a wide range of such control products. Such new products are not even registered in Malta, yet still find their way in the lo- cal market. Borg asks "if such products are deemed acceptable (and went through the rigorous evaluation process) in other EU countries, why can't they be used in Malta as well?" The MCCAA is also trying to address this problem caused by the unavailability of compliant pesticides, which are not regis- tered in the Maltese market. "Work is also ongoing to im- prove access to a variety of pes- ticides with the objective of sup- porting better MRL results," an MCCAA spokesperson said. Moving towards toxic-free agriculture While it may well be the case that Maltese farmers face an uphill battle to survive let alone compete with foreign imports, the impact of pesticides on con- sumer health is undeniable. Annalise Falzon and Anne Marie Apap from Friends of the Earth Malta referred to scientif- Farmers denounce "unfair comparisons" over illegal pesticides, saying Malta's small size results in stockpiles of banned pesticides as big companies fail to register EU-compliant products. Environmentalists back stronger enforcement but call for support to farmers to move towards a toxic-free agriculture Maltese farmers with stockpiles of banned pesticide cannot keep up with EU standards Agribusiness expert Malcolm Borg Whenever the EU bans a pesticide, distributors end up with stockpiles of the banned product because it is very difficult to sell it in a short period, simply because Maltese farmers use small quantities of products due to very limited areas of cultivation

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