What are the differences between the Biocontrol Coalition and other biocontrol associations?
Membership: The most fundamental difference is that the Biocontrol Coalition is a multistakeholder platform, with farmers at the heart of its work. Focusing on high-level advocacy and strategic engagement with EU institutions and a broad range of political bodies to advance policy changes and achieve a dedicated legislative framework for biocontrol.
How is the Biocontrol Coalition financed?
Industry-Funded: The Biocontrol Coalition is funded by its industry members.
Diverse Membership: The Coalition currently includes 21 members, representing a broad range of stakeholders, including farmer and consumer associations, laboratories, and regulatory consultancies. This diversity ensures that our advocacy reflects the perspectives and needs of the entire value chain. The Coalition is dedicated to creating a framework that will allow biocontrol products to come to market faster, while ensuring high levels of safety and environmental protection, providing farmers with a wide range of tools at competitive prices to manage pests.
Strict Compliance: We adhere to competition and anti-trust laws, ensuring ethical and balanced engagement. You can find us listed on the EU’s Transparency Register.
What is the problem facing biocontrol?
Over the last 8 years, the EU has lost one-third of plant protection products (PPPs) and has suffered a net loss of biocontrol active ingredients since 2019. No new biocontrol active ingredients have been approved in the past 2 years. Yet, Europe is home to a dynamic community of researchers and innovators in biocontrol technologies. Unfortunately, the regulatory process is slowed down and more costly than necessary due to a fragmented approval process that creates duplication and uses the resources of public authorities inefficiently. Roughly half of the 8-10 years needed to bring a new biocontrol product to market is dead time when a dossier is waiting to be evaluated. This regulatory bottleneck has resulted in a diminishing farmer toolbox to manage pests effectively.
The long delays and associated costs make it nearly impossible for start-ups to bring products to market, so the current framework inadvertantly reduces competition.
What is the objective of the Biocontrol Coalition
The Coalition’s aim is to enable faster access to biocontrol products by advocating for a dedicated legislative framework. This framework ensures that biocontrol products complement existing tools, offering farmers a practical, integrated pest management approach rather than replacing conventional solutions entirely.
Our proposal focuses on eliminating inefficiencies in the process while preserving the time and expertise needed to ensure that products coming to market are safe for people and the environment.
Isn’t biocontrol a niche?
Biocontrol is a practical and scalable solution that aligns with the needs of modern agriculture. Biocontrol products can be used in a wide range of farming systems. Biocontrol products are increasingly integrated into conventional practices as well as being used in segments like organic agriculture.
Some recent innovations can even be used as “drop-in” replacements for conventional products in terms of effectiveness and how they are used.
Our advocacy focuses on ensuring policymakers and stakeholders understand its role as a mainstream, viable tool for farmers.
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