Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to introduce a distinct regulatory pathway for the approval and use of biological control agents and biopesticides in crop protection to accelerate their uptake in place of harmful broad-spectrum chemical pesticides.

Improving access to low risk biopesticides for farmers, growers and other land managers is a priority for this Government – as set out in the UK Pesticides National Action Plan, published this year.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which regulates the approval, authorisation and use of biopesticides in the UK runs a biopesticide scheme to support companies seeking to market biopesticides in the UK. Support provided through the scheme includes dedicated HSE biopesticide champions, free pre-submission advice, and capped fees for biopesticide active substance approval.

In May this year the government set out its intention to establish a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) area with the EU, by way of an SPS Agreement. Pesticides regulations are in scope of the SPS agreement. As set out in the EU Vision for Agriculture and its recent SPS Omnibus Package Call for Evidence, the EU shares our aim to improve access to biopesticides. We welcome the EU’s review of regulatory barriers to innovation and, look forward to working collaboratively to deliver our shared aims.