IPMWORKS European Policy and Stakeholders’ Seminar

“Boosting IPM implementation in the EU”

Last 13 May 2024, IPMWORKS held the European Policy Seminar “Boosting IPM implementation in the EU” at COPA COGECA premises in Brussels aiming to engage key agri-food stakeholders in identifying tools, methods and practices to increase the implementation of IPM and reduce pesticides use in the EU.

This European Policy Seminar, performed in the framework of IPMWORKS WP7 ‘IPM policy engagement and sustainability strategy’ and organized by CIHEAM Zaragoza and ACTA aimed to contribute to boosting the implementation of IPM in the EU through an exchange session with various types of stakeholders.

The seminar was opened with the COPA COGECA welcome by Paula de Vera and the Introduction to IPMWORKS by Nicolas Munier-Jolain from INRAE and IPMWORKS project coordinator, followed by the presentation “What now for future EU Plant Protection and IPM Policies?” by Natasha Foote, freelance journalist , specialised in EU agrifood policy.

The first session, chaired by Alun Jones, CIHEAM Zaragoza (IPMWORKS- WP7 IPM Policy engagement Leader) was entitled ‘Overcoming obstacles to broadening the implementation of IPM’. The EC has observed considerable progress on the implementation of SUD at Member States level, but at the same time the assessment outcomes disclose a huge diversity in the implementation of IPM. This session aimed to expose how to overcome the obstacles to broadening the implementation of IPM, from the perspective of farmers, producers and advisors, including the recommendations elaborated in the framework of IPMWORKS and the role of Policy makers to incentivise IPM implementation. This part of the seminar had the following interventions:

  • Implementation of IPM in outdoor vegetable sector in Portugal (Bruno Neves – Farmer)
  • Farmers and Producers organisations point of view (Paula de Vera – Copa Cogeca)
  • The Role of Advisory Service Network in Knowledge Transfer (Urban Hrovatič – SEASN)
  • Biocontrol solutions for plant protection (Isabelle Pinzauti, IBMA Biocontrol industry)
  • The role of research, innovation, and knowledge exchange in promoting IPM implementation (Gisela Quaglia – DG AGRI)
  • Policy recommendations for scaling IPM adoption through IPM demo networks (Laure Triste & Hilde Wustenberghs – ILVO)

The second session, chaired by Adrien Guichaoua, ACTA (IPMWORKS, WP7 IPM Policy-Engagement co-leader) was dedicated to “How to engage the food Industry, consumers and civil society into IPM based products?”. The widespread adoption of IPM, is the result of increased awareness of sustainable conventional agriculture. Emphasising this approach is essential to provide healthy and sustainable food to meet the needs of the world’s growing population. This session addressed the importance of food Industry, consumers and civil society engagement into the added value of IPM based products. This part of the seminar had the following interventions:

  • IPM labelling: added value through sustainability in Switzerland (Sandie Masson – Agroscope)
  • Engagement of Agri-food chain (Stefanie de Kool – SMK)
  • Communicating with consumers about integrated pest management (Luigi Tozzi – Safe Food Advocacy Europe)
  • Towards solutions that work for everyone, farmers & the planet (Arnaud Schwartz – European Economic and Social Committee, NAT)
  • The role of crops protection sector to increase IPM practices (Anne Alix – CropLife Europe)
  • Making IPM work for people and nature (Clara Bourgin – Friends of the Earth)

The obstacles to broadening the implementation of IPM were discussed, including case studies, as well as the point of view of farmers’ and producers’ organisations. Also, the “Policy recommendation for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR)” elaborated by IPMWORKS consortium, as the main authors, and IPM Decisions, sister project, as contributors, were presented. The event also addressed the role of the food industry, by a dialogue to discuss about how to engage key stakeholders in the promotion of products produced with low pesticide inputs and promote IPM-sourced produces in novel market chains likely to provide both trade opportunities and added value for farmers.