Gowan Company
The Gowan Group is a global, family-owned agricultural solutions business headquartered in Yuma, Arizona, U.S.A.
ID: 413586843831-88
Lobbying Activity
Response to Amendment of the list of products and substances authorised in organic production
4 Mar 2025
Gowan welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposal for amending and correcting Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1165 authorizing certain products and substances for use in organic production and establishing their lists (ANNEX VI) We consider parts of the Commission's proposal to be unnecessarily restrictive. In its current form it delays the much-needed provision and use of biopesticides in organic farming and thus does organic farming a disservice. Gowans plant extract of Swinglea glutinosa, the active substance of a botanical fungicide, is a good example of this. It has achieved organic certification and registration in major markets such as the USA, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Mexico where it has been in reliable use for up to over a decade. The Expert Group for Technical Advice on Organic Production (EGTOP) advised "to include the extract of Swinglea glutinosa in Annex VI of Reg. 2021/1165 without additional specifications or limits." However, the EU Commission has not added the substance on Annex VI. It is argued that the provisions of Article 10(3)(c) of the draft regulation are not satisfied. Annex VI of the draft regulation that specifies Article 10(3)(c) states the active substances listed may be used in organic production in third countries provided that they 1. comply with the relevant legislation of the third country 2. are exempt from the maximum residue levels in accordance with the guidelines of Codex Alimentarius CXG 97*2022 3. a are listed in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 or specific maximum residue levels have been set in this Regulation. The approval process for biological crop protection products under Regulation 1107/2009 is extensive and lengthy, which also affects the concurrent review under Annex VI of Regulation 396/2005. Our submission of the application for Swinglea glutinosa extract dates back to 2019 and might not be finally approved before 2027. In the interim, organic farmers in third countries with organic production intended for export to the EU, would be deprived of an important fungicide, as it is not listed in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005. At the same time the European Commission's Vision for Agriculture and Food, announced a legislative proposal to accelerate the introduction of biological plant protection products to the EU market for the fourth quarter of 2025. It is planned to give Member States the option of provisional authorizations while the approval procedure for the active substance is still ongoing. This would allow EU uses of active substances that are not listed in Annex IV of Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 and for which no specific maximum residue levels have yet been set in that Regulation. Decisions on whether the active substances are in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 will have to be taken based on risk assessments by the rapporteur Member States or EFSA. Compared to this the conditions set out in the draft Annex VI for the use of biological active substances in organic production in third countries thus go beyond what will be the legal situation for domestic use in the European Union. In the light of the above arguments, we therefore propose to amend the text of Annex V I, Part A Products and substances authorized for the use in organic production in third countries as follows: "Active substances to be used in plant protection products Active substances listed in the table below may be used in organic production in third countries, provided they comply with the relevant country legislation, are exempted from maximum residue levels in accordance with Codex Alimentarius guideline CXG 97-2022, are included or are, based on ongoing risk assessments, expected to be included in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council, or specific maximum residue levels have been set in that Regulation.
Read full responseResponse to Sustainable use of pesticides – revision of the EU rules
1 Aug 2022
Gowan, a family-owned manufacturer of chemical and biological plant protection products, welcomes the opportunity to comment on the EU Commission's proposal for a regulation on the sustainable use of plant protection products (SUR).
We fully support the EU Commission’s objectives that pesticides are used and handled in a responsible way and that risks associated with their use are further reduced. However, we think that major elements of the proposal must be re-assessed in the light of an emerging global food crisis. We believe that the EU must continue to live up to its global responsibility and take advantage of its excellent conditions for agricultural production. Preserving and sustainably growing agricultural productivity as well as constantly securing agricultural yields through crop protection remain essential to ensure a sufficient, continuous supply of affordable food and thus is an imperative of social sustainability. This needs to go hand in hand with thoroughly protecting human health and the environment as well as necessary climate action. The proposal for a Sustainable Use Regulation must be assessed against all these objectives.
In our view the actual proposal may put at risk significant and constant contributions of EU agriculture to European and global food supply, as it defines arbitrary and substantial use and risk reduction targets for chemical pesticides, without making these conditional on the availability of equivalent and viable alternatives including lower risk chemistry. In our view, the availability of such alternatives should determine any concrete reduction targets. It is unclear to what extent these alternatives exist or will become available in future and whether these are equivalent from an agronomic, human health, environmental and climate perspective. We therefore suggest that the SUR proposal is complemented by an annual assessment obligation for the EU Commission that aims at reporting and assessing the availability of equivalent, viable alternatives to chemical pesticides and that forms the basis for determining and regularly adjusting reduction targets.
The basis for setting national reduction targets must be a real-life assessment of plant protection needs on the ground. Furthermore, the different starting points of the member states regarding plant protection intensity must be taken into account. The proposed method for calculating national targets does not do either to a sufficient extent. Setting legally binding targets on this basis is inappropriate, as it results in unequal treatment of farmers, that is incompatible with the Common Market and could have undesired impact on food production.
In its proposal, the EU Commission defines sensitive areas in which the use of all chemical and biological plant protection products is to be prohibited. As far as agricultural land is covered by the definition of sensitive areas, this would de facto mean that harvests in such areas would be not or only insufficiently protected. It is unclear how large the affected areas are and what impact on agricultural production would be expected. We urge the Commission to provide information on the size of the affected areas and ask co-legislators not to support a total ban of the use of pesticides in sensitive areas.
We support all efforts included in the proposal that aim at promoting innovations in crop protection. We would however like to emphasize that the development of alternatives will continue to largely depend on private sector investments. For Gowan as a family-owned business, it is of utmost importance, that the regulatory requirements and processes related to the placing on the market of innovative chemicals, biopesticides as well as precision and digital agriculture solutions are predictable, proportionate, science-based and fast. We urge all policy makers to pay more attention to this aspect that is largely outside the SUR, but instrumental to make any SUR a success.
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