Unscientific EU Pesticide Regulations

“Bad Science Could Kill Global Trade Talks,” by John R. Block.
Has irresponsibility gone intercontinental?…The European Commission has laid out a set of new rules that could effectively ban a quarter to a third of U.S. agricultural output and keep out U.S.-made products for controlling weeds, funguses and insects. The United States sets standards for pesticides essential to providing the world’s food needs based on scientifically determined levels of safety, then applies a 100 to 1000 fold extra margin of safety, to set the allowed residue. The new European rules would ban the importation of fruits, vegetables and grains when even the tiniest traces of so-called “endocrine disruptors” are detected. … That’s one reason the editors of eighteen leading scientific journals in the field of chemical hazards recently signed a common editorial protesting the E.U. action….[T]he editorial accused the commission of acting “contrary not only to science but to the very principles of an enlightened governance and social contract….” The editors warned that, “society itself would pay dearly if unscientific approaches were to undermine our everyday practice of science.” Read more at Real Clear Markets.