L&F promptly responds to new bill on spray ban: Violation of the tripartite agreement

It only took a few minutes from the Ministry of Environment's press release about a pesticide ban landing in the inbox until Agriculture & Food (L&F) had issued its response to the news. The ministry's proposal to ban pesticides on vulnerable groundwater recharge areas is, in fact, a breach of the green tripartite agreement, believes L&F's chairman, Søren Søndergaard. "A national pesticide ban is a break with the original tripartite agreement, which the government's ministers otherwise celebrated as historic when it was signed," says Søren Søndergaard, who believes that the professional basis is not at all in place. "There are several problems with it, as the government has now sent it out for public consultation. Firstly, we do not know the extent of the ban, nor do we know the consequences for food production, and therefore, we cannot say what it will cost individual farmers or society as a whole," he continues. The legislative proposal will mean a ban on commercial use of pesticides, spreading contaminated soil, and applying sewage sludge on all vulnerable groundwater recharge areas across the country. "Decades of neglect" Environment Minister Maria Reumert Gjerding (SF) calls it "a milestone" in the work to ensure clean drinking water, as the legislative proposal is now ready for the consultation process. "It is a break with decades of neglect in protecting drinking water, where efforts have been based on voluntariness. Now we are tackling the source and banning the use of pesticides where the vulnerable groundwater reservoirs are," she says, adding that the consultation period has been extended to eight weeks to ensure stakeholder input into the law. Rules on criteria and levels for compensation to affected farmers and businesses are not included in the legislative proposal but will be implemented through regulations after the law's adoption. These will also be subject to public consultation. Søren Søndergaard believes that the law will undermine the land-use change agreement made in the green tripartite agreement and halt the work. "Right now, everyone is holding back because landowners have no other choice. Just like with the fertilization law L5, a pesticide ban leaves farmers with great uncertainty about future conditions. Authorities still cannot specify exactly where all the groundwater recharge areas are. Yet, the government is pushing the rules through. It is a very unfortunate way for the state to treat its citizens," he says.