Recent reports from Europol regarding the seizure of 122 tonnes of illegal pesticides in the EU highlight that the problem of illegal pesticides is substantial, with no signs of it abating. Europol estimates that annual revenues associated with such illegal trade are over €4.4 billion globally, while the European Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety estimates that at least 10% of the EU pesticides market is comprised of illegal products. According to the ECCA/ECPA, this may be the tip of the iceberg.
Illegal pesticides damage the agrochemicals industry in two key ways:
- Market destruction, the scale of which is impossible to quantify accurately as illegal products may go undetected for a long time or may never be discovered at all. For this reason, the industry can only guess at the scale of the problem by extrapolating from incomplete data and market intelligence.
- The contents of illegal pesticides are unknown and have not been evaluated under EU regulatory processes. The pesticides may be formulated from illegal imports of active substances which are not authorised in the EU, or combined with inferior co-formulants which may impact on the efficacy or crop safety of the product. The use of untested, unauthorised actives and formulations can pose very real risks to farmers, public health and the environment.
Agrochemical companies have sought to tackle the problem by improving their anti-counterfeiting measures, such as introducing supply chain traceability and product and packaging authentication technologies, and supporting the co-ordinated operations of regulators and law enforcement authorities across the EU.
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